Rockets lose 129-122 to Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies

POSTED: October 22, 2022 -- 8:15 a.m. CT

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- In a game that featured 17 lead changes and 10 ties, the Houston Rockets lost 129-122 to the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,055 fans. Memphis guard Ja Morant was sensational. Morant finished the game with 49 points in just 31 minutes and 14 seconds.

Morant's 49 points is the highest point total against the Rockets since Russell Westbrook had 49 for Oklahoma City on January 5, 2017.

Houston's Jalen Green had a team-high 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting in 35 minutes of play.

"Ja is already a problem as it is," Green said after the game. When he's hitting that jumper, all you can do is pray he miss."

Morant made his first 5 three-point shots in the game to keep Memphis within striking distance of Houston. Green scored 14 of his 33 points in the first quarter to help Houston lead Memphis 32-26 after the 1st quarter.

The Rockets (0-2) led by as much as 16 in the second quarter; but, Morant scored 14 in the quarter to slice Houston's lead to 8 (70-62) at the half.

Houston turned over the ball 3 times in the first three minutes of the third quarter and Memphis (2-0) capitalized on the mistakes with a 12-4 run to the tie game at 74. The Grizzlies had 3 layups and 3 dunks in the run.

Morant missed only 1 of 9 field goal attempts in the third quarter and scored 19 points in the period.

Green (9) points and Kevin Porter Jr (6) points helped Houston keep up with Morant as Memphis outscored Houston 33-30 in the quarter. Houston led 100-95 after 36 minutes.

Memphis guard Tyus Jones made 2 three-pointers in the first 81 seconds of the 4th quarter to help the Grizzlies tie the game at 102. The game was tied at 110 when Memphis went on an 8-0 run. Morant sank back-to-back buckets to cap the run.

Houston's deficit grew to 10 (123-113) with 4:57 left in the game. The Rockets didn't get closer than 5 points the rest of the game.

Despite the loss, Houston Head Coach Stephen Silas was pleased with his team's performance.

"I'm not discouraged at all about this because we took a team that was one of the top teams in our conference and they felt good about beating us because we played so hard."

NOTES:

Alperen Sengun had 23 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the ninth double-double of his NBA career.

Kevin Porter Jr. had 18 points while shooting 4-of-8 from 3-point range. He is averaging 19.5 ppg while shooting 7-of-13 from behind-the-arc so far this season.

Eric Gordon finished the game with 17 points and 4 assists

The Rockets lost despite scoring 122 points. Last season, all but one of Houston's wins came when scoring 110+ points.

NEXT:

The Rockets' next game is Saturday night, October 22, in Milwaukee, against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Central Time.

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