Thunder rally from 29 points down after Morant leaves with injury, top Grizzlies for 3-0 series lead

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Chet Holmgren scored all but one of his 24 points in the second half and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 29-point deficit after Ja Morant left the game with a hip injury and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 114-108 on Thursday night for a 3-0 series lead.

Morant was hurt with just over three minutes left in the first half and Memphis leading 67-40. The Grizzlies led by 26 at halftime.

The 29-point comeback was the second-largest in an NBA postseason game since play-by-play data began being recorded in the 1996-97 season.

The only one bigger: A comeback from 31 points down by the Los Angeles Clippers against Golden State on April 15, 2019.

The top-seeded Thunder, who won Game 1 131-80 in the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason history, didn’t even have a lead in this one until the fourth quarter. Now, they can close out the series Saturday.

“I just through out of halftime, we kind of reconnected to who we are. We were very out of character in the first half,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points for Oklahoma City and Jalen Williams added 26, splitting a pair of free throws with 1:20 left to give the Thunder their first lead.

Scotty Pippen scored 28 points, two short of his career high, to lead Memphis. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 22 points as Memphis saw its substantial lead evaporate in the second half.

“Understanding leads,” Williams said. “You're never too far ahead, and you're never too far behind.”

“They built a 29-point lead in a half, so we felt like all we had to do was build our own 29-point lead,” GIlgeous-Alexander said.

Morant went down hard under the basket with just over three minutes remaining in the first half and was ruled out for the remainder of the game early in the second half with a left hip contusion.

Memphis was on a fast break after a Thunder turnover. Pippen was driving to the basket when he dropped the ball off to Morant at the rim. Luguentz Dort, who was stumbling at the time, fell into Morant while he was in the air, sending the Morant crashing to the floor. The play was reviewed for a flagrant foul, but was ruled a common foul.

Morant had 15 points and five assists.

Memphis carried a 77-51 lead into the break. But the Thunder used a 36-18 scoring edge in the third quarter to claw back,

“I think it is very hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been in that situation,” Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said.

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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) shoots against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) reacts in the first half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball between Oklahoma City Thunder guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Luguentz Dort (5) in the first half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant looks on from the bench in the first half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots against Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) and guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) as center Zach Edey (14) moves for position in the second half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) passes the ball between Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (22) and forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) in the second half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) handles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (22) in the second half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) handles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (22) in the second half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (25) handles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard, right, in the first half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) looks to pass between Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13), guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1), and center Zach Edey (14) in the second half of Game 3 of an NBA first-round playoff series Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)