Marcus Smart scored a season-high 25 points off the bench, including seven 3-pointers, to help guide the Memphis Grizzlies to a 131-111 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
Jake LaRavia and Scotty Pippen Jr. added 19 points apiece for Memphis, which won its fourth straight game. Jaylen Wells, Brandon Clarke and Jay Huff each scored 13, while Jaren Jackson Jr. tallied 12 points in the win.
Marcus Sasser led Detroit with a season-high 22 points off the bench, followed by Simone Fontecchio’s 18. Jaden Ivey chipped in 17 points, Ronald Holland II scored 14, while Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. each had 10. The Pistons fell for the fourth time in five games, despite holding an early 11-point lead.
Leading 71-53 at halftime, Memphis’s advantage was cut to 13 after Ivey’s triple with 9:07 left in the third quarter.
From there, the Grizzlies pulled away for good. Clarke’s three-point play began a 14-0 run that pushed their lead to 91-64 with 5:49 left in the third. LaRavia’s back-to-back 3-pointers increased Memphis’ lead to 101-71 with 1:46 left in the quarter.
The Grizzlies led 104-77 entering the fourth quarter.
In the first quarter, Detroit jumped out to a 20-12 lead, aided by a 9-0 run capped by Holland’s free throw.
After Holland’s dunk later extended Detroit’s advantage to 33-22 with 2:54 remaining in the opening quarter, Smart’s triple jump started an 8-0 Memphis run. Smart scored four points in the final 31 seconds, helping cut the Grizzlies’ first-quarter deficit to 35-34.
Memphis took a 46-39 lead on Smart’s triple with 8:28 left in the first half. Later in the first half, Memphis’ lead ballooned to 19 points on LaRavia’s 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining.
After Smart’s triple extended the lead to 71-51, Sasser’s layup with 1.9 seconds left trimmed Detroit’s halftime deficit to 18. Smart’s 16 led Memphis in the first half, while Ivey paced the Pistons with 13.
–Field Level Media
