Ja Morant’s record night not enough for Grizzlies against Jazz in Game 2

Ja Morant’s audacity has no limits, but Rudy Gobert tried to prove otherwise. In the second quarter Wednesday, Gobert blocked a Morant dunk attempt and sent him walking backwards.

Morant kept coming, however. He led the Memphis Grizzlies' third-quarter surge by dicing up the Utah Jazz for floaters and layups. He kept coming with a reverse alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter.

The dust settled with Morant scoring 47 points, a franchise single-game record. But the Jazz got even with a 141-129 win at Vivant Arena to tie the series at 1-1.

Morant had 26 points in Game 1, but his Game 2 performance felt like his true playoff introduction. He had 13 points in the third as he and Dillon Brooks cut Utah's 20-point lead down to two.

Ja Morant goes off for a @memgrizz#NBAPlayoffs franchise record 47 PTS in Game 2!

Game 3: Saturday at 9:30pm/et on ESPN pic.twitter.com/qmk1meXBBk

The Jazz couldn’t stay in front of Morant, who had 22 first-half points. It was reminiscent of his 35-point performance against the Golden State Warriors that put the Grizzlies into the playoffs.

Morant's combined 73 points in his first two career playoff games are the second-most in NBA history behind George Mikan's 75 and the most since the BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA after the 1948-49 season.

Donovan Mitchell had 12 first-quarter points after missing 17 games with a sprained right ankle. But his biggest impact was drawing two first-quarter fouls on Brooks, the Grizzlies' top perimeter defender who led the NBA in personal fouls.

Mitchell stayed aggressive like he did in two regular-season games against the Grizzlies. He had 25 points in 25 minutes and showed no signs of being hobbled. The Jazz followed suit, leading by as many as 22 in the first half and had seven players score in double figures. — Evan Barnes

State of the series: Tied at 1-1. Game 3 is Saturday in Memphis (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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