Field Level Media
May 15, 2021
Justise Winslow scored a season-high 25 points and matched his career best of 13 rebounds to help the Memphis Grizzlies notch a 107-106 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Xavier Tillman contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Killian Tillie added a career-high 16 points as Memphis (38-33) won its fifth straight game. John Konchar scored 15 points as the Grizzlies swept a back-to-back set with the Kings.
Louis King recorded career highs of 27 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento (31-40). Damian Jones posted season highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds, Justin James scored 16 points and Chimezie Metu added 15.
Memphis held a six-point lead with 38 seconds remaining before the Kings made a late rush. Terence Davis hit a 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left, but he saw his last-second 3-point attempt bounce off the glass and the rim before failing to go through the rim.
Sacramento's Buddy Hield, who scored 11 points, was the only one of the typical 10 starters on the floor for the teams. The contest had a summer-league feel one day after the Kings were eliminated from postseason contention for the 15th straight season.
The contest also was meaningless for the Grizzlies, who held out starters Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Anderson and key reserve Brandon Clarke to keep them fresh for Sunday's road clash with the Golden State Warriors.
The winner of the Memphis-Golden State game will land the No. 8 position in the Western Conference play-in round and the loser will be No. 9.
The Grizzlies' other starter, Grayson Allen, missed his sixth straight game due to an abdominal injury.
Sacramento starters De'Aaron Fox (health and safety protocols), Harrison Barnes (adductor), Marvin Bagley III (groin) and Richaun Holmes (knee) missed the game.
Winslow capped a 10-3 run with a 3-pointer to give Memphis a 93-89 lead with 6:08 left. Sacramento scored 10 of the next 15 points to take its final lead at 99-98 with 2:44 remaining.
The Kings shot 38.5 percent from the field, including 10 of 42 (23.8 percent) from 3-point range.
The Grizzlies connected on 44 percent of their field-goal attempts and made 11 of 33 from behind the arc.
King scored 16 first-half points and Jones added 12 as the Kings led 57-53 at the break. Winslow had 12 points for the Grizzlies before halftime.
The Kings led 70-59 after Davis drained a 3-pointer with 7:59 left in the third quarter. The Grizzlies responded with a 16-4 run to take a one-point edge en route to a 79-76 advantage entering the final stanza.
--Field Level Media