Morant magic sparks Grizzlies to victory over Warriors, Celtics rout Bucks

LOS ANGELES: Ja Morant erupted for 47 points as the Memphis Grizzlies outmuscled the Golden State Warriors to level their Western Conference NBA playoff series with a bruising 106-101 victory on Tuesday.

Morant’s career-high playoff points total dragged Memphis over the line to square the best-of-seven semifinal series at 1-1 after a nail-biting duel at the FedEx Forum in Tennessee.

But a physical encounter was shrouded in controversy, with the Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks ejected after only three minutes for flattening the Warriors’ Gary Payton II as he drove for a basket.

Payton played no further part in the contest and Warriors coach Steve Kerr later confirmed he had suffered a fractured elbow.

The Warriors’ Draymond Green, ejected in Game 1 on Sunday, was also on the receiving end of the Grizzlies’ robust tactics, needing prolonged treatment in the locker room in the first quarter after being stiff-armed by Xavier Tillman.

Kerr later described the Grizzlies first-quarter approach as “dirty not physical” and accused Brooks of “breaking the code” among NBA professionals.

“There’s a code in this league that players follow where you never put a guy’s season or career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in mid-air and clubbing him across the head and ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow,” Kerr said. “Dillon Brooks broke the code. That’s how I see it.”

Despite the physical nature of Memphis’s play, it was the silky skills of Morant that ultimately proved decisive, the 22-year-old pouring in 18 of his team’s fourth-quarter points to seal victory as the teams head back to California for Game 3 on Saturday.

Victory was sweet for Morant, who admitted he had been tormented by what would have been a game-winning missed layup