LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Dillon Brooks scored 22 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies claimed their first win since the restart with a 121-92 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Ja Morant had 19 points and 9 assists for the Grizzlies.
Memphis lost its first four restart games and would have fallen into a tie with Portland for eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a loss.
"As a whole, we never doubted ourselves, doubted what we can accomplish as a team," Morant said. "We just went out and played freely and we were able to come out with a win."
Chris Paul scored 17 points and Luguentz Dort added 16 for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City's leading scorer this season, finished with 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
The Thunder looked nothing like the team that rolled past the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Oklahoma City missed a chance to move into a tie with the Houston Rockets for fourth place in the West.
Oklahoma City led by 18 in the first quarter, but the Grizzlies rallied to take the lead in the second. The Thunder made 7-of-13 three-pointers in the first quarter but 6-of-30 the rest of the way.
"I thought it was a little bit of fool's gold in the first quarter," Thunder Coach Billy Donovan said.
Memphis led by nine in the final seconds of the first half. Danilo Gallinari hit a three-pointer for the Thunder with 4.6 seconds left, then Paul got a steal and hit a three-pointer from the corner to cut the Grizzlies' lead to 63-60 at halftime.
The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 32-18 in the third quarter to go up 95-78.
"They started making shots," Paul said. "We never really made them feel us all game long. They were just so comfortable. They got a little bit of everything. They got floaters, they got the threes, they got to the free-throw line. Our defense was just bad today."
In other games Friday, Derrick White scored 24 points, Jakob Poelti added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs got a win over the short-handed Utah Jazz 119-111. Lonnie Walker and Rudy Gay both finished with 14 points for the Spurs, who moved into sole possession of 10th place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of surging Phoenix. San Antonio got a huge lift in the third quarter from the 33-year-old Gay, who scored 10 points during one stretch to help open a 16-point lead. Jordan Clarkson scored 24 points off the bench to lead the Jazz. ... Caris LeVert scored 22 points, Jarrett Allen added 17 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets clinched a playoff berth by beating the Sacramento Kings 119-106. The Nets came to the bubble without stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving but continued to display plenty of fight, improving to 3-2 since coming to Florida. Joe Harris added 21 points, shooting 8 of 11 from the field, including 5 of 7 from three-point range. ... Tobias Harris had 23 points and 15 rebounds, Joel Embiid turned in a strong second half and finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers held off the Orlando Magic 108-101 in their first game without All-Star Ben Simmons. Simmons is out indefinitely after injuring his knee Wednesday night. Alec Burks had 22 points off the bench and Al Horford stepped into the starting lineup and finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Evan Fournier had 22 points and Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Magic, which have lost three consecutive games in the NBA bubble after starting 2-0. ... Jrue Holiday scored 28 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Washington Wizards 118-107 without star rookie Zion Williamson, who rested. Rui Hachimura scored 23 points, Thomas Bryant scored 22, and Troy Brown Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Washington. ... Jaylen Brown scored 20 points, Jayson Tatum added 18 and the Boston Celtics never trailed on the way to a 122-100 win over the Toronto Raptors. Kemba Walker scored 17 points in 23 minutes for the Celtics, who led by 40 at one point and kept slim hope alive of catching the Raptors for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference postseason race. Fred VanVleet scored 13 for Toronto, which got 11 from Kyle Lowry and 11 more from Pascal Siakam.
Chase for No. 8
Six teams in the NBA’s Western Conference are vying for the No. 8 seed. If the No. 9 seed is within four games of the No. 8 seed at the end of the seeding games, there will be a play-in series for the final playoff spot.
W-L PCT. GB
Memphis................33-37 .471 —
Portland.................32-38 .457 1
San Antonio.........30-38 .441 2
Phoenix................30-39 .435 21/2
New Orleans........30-39 .435 21/2
Sacramento.........29-40 .420 31/2