LaMelo Ball scored 29 points and made seven three-pointers as the Charlotte Hornets routed the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies 124-101, dropping Memphis to 10 losses in its last 11 games.
The Memphis Grizzlies had no answers for LaMelo Ball on Saturday night, and the result was another lopsided loss. Ball made seven three-pointers and scored 29 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 124-101 victory, dropping Memphis to 10 losses in its last 11 games.
The Grizzlies fell to 24-46 and have now watched whatever slim postseason hopes remained essentially disappear. Down 12 at the half, Memphis got buried in the third, and that was that.
After the game, Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo praised his team's fight and commended the Hornets' ball movement, defensive competitiveness, and rebounding.
“Obviously, for us coming off a game yesterday against Boston and the travel, though, we gave a good fight tonight," Iisalo said. "But you can see why Charlotte has been very successful, especially after the new year. They moved the ball really well, played defense with purpose, and they rebounded the ball.”
GG Jackson had 19 points and shot 7-of-14 from the floor. Javon Small had 17 points and seven rebounds. Jaylen Wells scored 19 but needed 14 field goal attempts to get there, and the Grizzlies got little production beyond those three.
Walter Clayton Jr. had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 10. Everyone else in the rotation combined for fewer than 30 points on a rough shooting night collectively.
Memphis shot 40.6 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three, finishing 16-of-46 from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies turned it over 13 times, which Charlotte converted into 17 points. Ball went 9-of-19 from the field, added four assists and four rebounds, and didn't play the fourth quarter. Charlotte had it wrapped up by then.
Charlotte took the lead for good 2:47 into the game and was up 59-47 at the break. A 15-6 Hornets run early in the third quarter, capped by a Miles Bridges three-point play, pushed the margin to 74-53. Memphis was outscored in three of the four quarters and never put together a run that made Charlotte sweat.
Brandon Miller added 22 points, and Moussa Diabate pulled down 14 rebounds for the Hornets, who shot 53 percent from the field.
Memphis also played without Ja Morant, Ty Jerome, Jahmai Mashack, Cedric Coward, Brandon Clarke, Santi Aldama, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Zach Edey.
The Grizzlies play at Atlanta on Monday night. Tip-off against the Hawks is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT on FanDuel Sports Network.