Morant powers the Grizzlies to victory over the Bucks, the Rockets hold off the Mavs

Ja Morant's 12th career triple-double gave the Memphis Grizzlies a 122-99 NBA victory over the Milwaukee Bucks as Houston beat the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but teammate Damian Lillard was held to four points on 1 of 12 shooting.

Brook Lopez was Milwaukee's second-highest scorer with 12 points as the Bucks lost their fourth straight after opening the season with a win over injury-plagued Philadelphia.

Morant was the engine for Memphis, scoring 26 points with 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

“I just came out aggressive and took what the defense gave me,” said Morant, who scored 21 points in the first half and helped Memphis build a 70-48 lead.

He had plenty of support as seven Grizzlies players, including all five starters, scored in double figures. Milwaukee was never able to get the deficit below 18 points in the second half.

“Everyone was kind of in a good rhythm, we got it going early,” Morant said after Memphis recovered from a sluggish loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

“We have stops,” he said. “We boxed, we ran out and played our game. That's how we want to play. If we want to achieve something in this league, we have to do it every night.”

The Bucks are clearly missing the contribution of the injured Khris Middleton, who has not played yet this season as he recovers from an ankle injury.

“I thought we played with the right attitude,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We didn’t shoot, and there will be nights like that too. But on nights like this we have to find a way to get stops.”

In Dallas, the Rockets finally prevailed over their Texas rivals, leading by as many as 23 points and securing a 108-102 victory.

Jalen Green scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who had lost six of their last seven games against the Mavs.

Green scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Rockets hold off a late Dallas surge. Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun each scored 17 points for Houston, which defeated Dallas 50-37.

Mavs star Luka Doncic scored 15 of his 29 points in the final period as the Mavs got within three points but couldn't get any closer.

– Wembanyama shines –

San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama scored 25 points with nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five blocked shots as the Spurs picked up their second win of the season, 106-88 over the winless Utah Jazz.

It was the second 5×5 game of Wembanyama's career – there were at least five in five statistical categories.

The reigning Rookie of the Year joins Hakeem Olajuwon and Andrei Kirilenko as the only players to play multiple 5×5 games in their career since the league began tracking steals and blocks in 1973.

The Phoenix Suns rallied late and erased a 21-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the Clippers 125-119 in Los Angeles.

Devin Booker scored 40 points, Royce O'Neale added 21 off the bench and Kevin Durant contributed 18 for Phoenix, which took its first lead in the fourth quarter after tying the score twice in the third quarter.

The Suns celebrated their second victory over the Clippers in eight days, winning again at the Intuit Dome after spoiling the Clippers' first home game in their new arena last week.

James Harden posted a triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for the Clippers. Norman Powell scored 23 points and Ivica Zubac added 22 and 12 rebounds.

bb/pst