Mitchell, who finished with a team-high 25
points, bombed in five 3-pointers in 10 tries. Teammates Mike
Conley and Joe Ingles buried three apiece as the top-seeded
Jazz, who led the NBA in the regular season in both most
3-pointers made and fewest allowed, dominated the eighth-seeded
Grizzlies from beyond the arc to offset an upset loss in the
series opener.
The scene shifts to Memphis with the Grizzlies hosting Game 3 on
Saturday.
With Mitchell still nursing a sprained right ankle, Memphis
shocked the West's regular-season champs by holding them to
12-for-47 (25.5 percent) accuracy on 3-pointers in Game 1.
But Utah came out firing in the rematch, nailing 10 treys in the
first half alone en route to a 74-54 lead at the break.
Morant and Dillon Brooks, who missed most of the first half in
foul trouble, hit three hoops apiece in a 27-12 Grizzlies flurry
in the latter stages of the third quarter to get Memphis within
96-93.
But Jordan Clarkson dropped in three free throws, Rudy Gobert
threw down two dunks and Mitchell completed a three-point play
in a 10-0 Utah burst bridging the third and fourth quarters that
extended the lead back to double figures, and the Jazz kept
Memphis at arm's length the rest of the way.
Gobert shot 9-for-11 en route to 21 points and a double-double
with a game-high 13 rebounds for Utah, which hit 54.4 percent of
its shots overall and 48.7 percent (19-for-39) on 3-pointers.
Conley also recorded a double-double with a game-high 15 assists
to complement 20 points, while Bojan Bogdanovic (18), Clarkson
(16), Royce O'Neale (14) and Ingles (14) made it seven Utah
players scoring in double figures.
Morant's 47 points surpassed his previous career-high of 44 set
in December against San Antonio. He made 15 field goals,
including a pair of 3-pointers, and a career-best 15 free throws
en route to his total.
The second-year standout also found time for a team-high seven
assists.
Brooks finished with 23 points for Memphis, which got
double-figure scoring from all five starters but a total of just
14 points from five reserves.
Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. 16 and Kyle
Anderson 11 for the Grizzlies, who also shot well overall (54.1
percent) but struggled to 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) on 3-pointers.
--Field Level Media
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