Morant, Brooks lead Grizzlies past Celtics in overtime

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ja Morant had 29 points and nine assists, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Boston Celtics 132-126 in overtime on Monday night.

Dillon Brooks added 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Grizzlies won for the third time in four games. Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 19 rebounds.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 27 points, and Jeff Teague finished with a season-high 26 points. Robert Williams III had 17, and Marcus Smart scored 16.

Morant scored the last three points of the game from the free-throw line. Brooks had five points early in the extra period.

The Celtics already were without starting guard Kemba Walker when Jayson Tatum was a late scratch with an illness. That meant two of Boston’s top three scorers were missing.

Boston trailed by nine midway through the fourth quarter. But Smart found Daniel Theis for a tying alley-oop dunk with 7.3 seconds left in regulation, sending it to overtime.

Brown, who connected on 10 of 18 from 3-point range en route to 34 points in a win over Orlando on Sunday, struggled through much of three quarters, starting 3 of 11 from the field. He finished 11 of 24.

TIP-INS

Celtics: Brown has reached double figures in each of his 40 games this season. He has scored at least 20 in 30 of those games. … Defeated the Grizzlies 126-107 on Dec. 30 when Brown had a career-high 42 points. … Walker sat out his 17th game to deal with left knee injury management. Teague started in his spot. Fourth-year F Semi Ojeleye started for Tatum. … Teague was 5 for 5 in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers. His previous season high was 19 against Milwaukee on Dec. 23.

Grizzlies: Had not defeated Celtics in last 10 meetings. Their last home win over Boston was Jan. 10, 2016.

UP NEXT

Celtics: Travel to Milwaukee for the second of a four-game road trip on Wednesday.

Grizzlies: Play at Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

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