Ja Morant scored a team-high 35 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors 117-112 in overtime on Friday to close out the play-in tournament and grab the final seed in the NBA playoffs.
Morant helped clinched the winner-take-all victory with a spinning floater from 10 feet with four seconds left in overtime as the Grizzlies advanced to the playoffs for the first time in four years. The Warriors were eliminated from the postseason.
“That’s the shots I want to take,” said Morant who also had a career high five threes. “I like it when the pressure is on me. I lift my game. I got all the confidence in the world in my game.”
The youthful Grizzlies won two straight games in the play-in tournament to earn the eighth seed and will now face the top seeded Utah Jazz in the first game of their series on Sunday in Salt Lake City.