The Memphis Grizzlies, who take a six-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, have Ja Morant back in the starting lineup.
In Sunday’s 123-119 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Morant made his first start since serving an eight-game suspension. As he builds up his fitness, the two-time All-Star played 29 minutes and scored 27 points.
In the victory over Atlanta, Desmond Bane scored 25 points, and Jaren Jackson Jr., Xavier Tillman, and Xavier Tillman each scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. With eight games remaining, Memphis (47-27) is in second place in the Western Conference.
Since being acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 9, guard Luke Kennard has provided the Grizzlies with a welcome boost. Kennard scored 30 points last Friday, matching his career high, in the team’s victory over the Houston Rockets. He is quickly becoming more familiar with the offense.
The Grizzlies are playing at FedEx Forum again, where they have won 11 games in a row and have the best home record in the NBA, 32-5. Orlando (32-43) is their opponent, having won three straight.
Morant and Jackson scored 63 points each in Orlando’s 123-115 defeat of Memphis on January 5.
The Magic beat the Brooklyn Nets 119-106 on Sunday. Cole Anthony scored 21 points to lead eight Magic players in double figures as Orlando outscored Brooklyn 58-38 in the paint.
Jalen Suggs (16 points) returned to the Magic after missing the previous four games with a concussion. Suggs, who has been injured for 29 games this season, played 24 minutes against Brooklyn and shot 6-of-9 from the floor.
The Magic are 13-24 when playing on the road, compared to 19-19 when playing at the Amway Center, but Anthony has scored at least 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in eight of their last ten games.
This month, Anthony has been a major contributor to Orlando’s resurgent offense. The Magic have scored at least 110 points in 12 of their last 13 games, averaging 117.2 points per game.
