National Basketball Association
Dallas 121, Memphis 116
When: 8:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Officials: #46 Ben Taylor, #33 Sean Corbin, #84 Jenna Schroeder
Attendance: 20277

The Dallas Mavericks overcame a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 on Tuesday behind Luka Doncic's 37 points and 12 rebounds and Dereck Lively III's 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Grizzlies and Mavericks were playing in their final game of the NBA Cup group stage. With the win, Dallas finished 3-1 in West Group C, made the quarterfinals as the wild-card team and will play at Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Memphis wound up 1-3 and was eliminated.

The Mavericks, who have won five in a row and nine of their past 10, also got 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from P.J. Washington and key back-to-back 3-pointers in the closing minutes from Spencer Dinwiddie, who finished with 16 points. Dinwiddie's 3-pointer with 1:40 left gave the Mavs a 113-111 lead. He added a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.

Ja Morant had a season-high 31 points for the Grizzlies, who had their season-best six-game win streak snapped. Desmond Bane added 19 for Memphis and Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 16 with seven boards. Santi Aldama came off the bench to add 15 points and eight rebounds.

Dallas made 18 of 26 free throws in the final quarter as the Mavericks recorded their biggest comeback victory of the season.

Memphis trailed by three at the half, then scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to lead by seven. The Grizzlies extended their lead to 13 late in the quarter taking advantage of 10 Dallas turnovers in the period. Morant had 11 points in the quarter, including four in the closing eight seconds as Memphis took a 95-82 lead into the fourth. The Grizzlies outscored Dallas 38-22 in the quarter.

The Mavs led for most of the opening half and built a 10-point advantage (48-38) midway through the second quarter after Doncic scored on a leaner from the free-throw line and made the and-one. Doncic had 24 points at the half, including four 3-pointers.

Memphis was up by one (26-25) entering the second quarter, but only led briefly later in the quarter after a 12-0 run gave the Grizzlies a 50-48 advantage. Jaylen Wells capped the run with a 3-pointer, but Dallas closed strong and led 60-57 at the break.

Morant was limited to five points in the opening half. Jackson Jr. paced the Grizzlies with 14 first-half points.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Memphis   Dallas
Ja Morant 31 Scoring Luka Doncic 37
Marcus Smart 6 Assists P.J. Washington 7
Santi Aldama 8 Rebounds Luka Doncic 12
Ja Morant 6 Free Throws Made Luka Doncic 10
Ja Morant 3 Steals Luka Doncic 4
Santi Aldama 1 Blocks Dereck Lively II 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Memphis 116 46.4 13-40 13-14 27 39 3 15 19
Dallas 121 48.1 13-32 30-44 24 49 8 8 25
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Mavericks have a W/L % of .643 after a win and .625 after a loss.
  • Memphis will play their next game at home against Sacramento. The Grizzlies have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .750 after a loss.