Los Angeles (AFP)
New Zealander Stephen Adams scored the winning basket in the last seconds, leading the Memphis Grizzlies to their eleventh consecutive victory at the expense of the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-114 in the NBA.
Adams scored the winning basket for the first time in his career, after following up his colleague Ja Morant’s attempt 17 seconds before the end of the fiery match at the “FedEx Forum” in Memphis.
Then, Memphis’ Dillon Brooks put in a defensive effort by blocking Cavaliers’ Darius Garland’s three-pointer in the last second.
“We’ve got a bunch of heroes out there, and they’re ready to play every night,” Brooks said after the match.
Memphis’ series of 11 consecutive wins equaled its previous record in this field, which it achieved last season, to increase its record this season to 31 wins and 13 losses in the Western Region, behind the Denver Nuggets leader in the standings with 32 wins and 13 losses.
The match was very close and was decided only in the last seconds, as the two teams exchanged the lead 16 times.
Memphis seemed on its way to a big win during the second quarter, after leading by 19 points.
But the response came strong from Cleveland and seemed able to snatch the victory, when it advanced 114-111 with less than a minute left in the match.
But Morant scored two free throws before Cleveland lost the ball very costly, so that Morant could take advantage and penetrate towards the basket, and despite his lack of success, his colleague Adams managed to follow the ball and score the decisive basket.
Desmond Payne was the best scorer for the Grizzlies with 25 points, and Morant added 24 points with eight assists. Also, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 15 points and Adams 13 points with ten rebounds.
On the other hand, Serbian Nikola Jokic scored 31 points and a new triple-double, to confirm his team’s lead in the Western Region, after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 122-118.
In Los Angeles, LeBron James excelled in a high offensive performance, but he could not avoid losing the Lakers to the Sacramento Kings 111-116.
DeJonte Murray scored 30 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Mavericks 130-122.
