SAN ANTONIO – Ja Morant had 21 points and 12 assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 129-115 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

Desmond Bane scored 21 points, Santi Aldama 20 and Jaren Jackson Jr. 19 for Memphis, which had lost four of its last six games through Wednesday.

Memphis attacked Spurs’ 7-foot-3 center Victor Wembanayma often and early.

Morant hit a one-handed, fade-away floater over Wembanyama for the first basket of the game. With just over two minutes left, Morant threw a one-handed slam dunk over Wembanyama, but the basket didn’t count because it came after play was stopped by the referee’s whistle.

Grizzlies rookie center Zach Edey threw a hook shot over Wembanyama and pushed past the center for a two-handed dunk later in the first quarter.

San Antonio rookie Stephon Castle had a season-high 26 points and Wembanyama finished the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.

All of Wembanyama’s blocks came in the first half. Memphis outscored San Antonio 78-52 in the final two quarters.

Takeaways

Grizzlies: Edey had six points and five rebounds and was the main defender in Wembanyama.

Spurs: Castle scored 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting in the second half.

Key moment

Wembanyama blocked Edey’s dunk attempt with nine seconds left in the first quarter and then blocked Aldama’s follow-up attempt on the same possession. Bane recovered the blocked shot and sank a three-pointer that cut San Antonio’s lead to 30-28 with six seconds left in the first quarter. The Grizzlies continued to overcome Wembanyama’s presence on the team, especially after a defensive stance from the Spurs center.

Key statistics

Wembanyama has five games with eight or more blocks this season.

Next

Spurs and Grizzlies complete a two-game set on Friday in San Antonio.

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