NBA highlights on Dec. 29: Clippers shut down Morant in the right way

The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-106 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, giving Ja Morant his first loss since he came back to the NBA from suspension.

Morant made his first appearance this season on December 19 and started a four-game winning streak since then. He sat out on Thursday's 142-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets because of unspecified injuries. He averaged 28.8 points, including nearly 19 in the paint, 5.3 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game when he was playing. Meanwhile, however, he shot 16.7 percent from downtown.

The Clippers apparently studied Morant's performance, especially his weakness. They used a lot of zone defense on Friday night and always kept at least two defenders in his presence to keep him from charging into his sweet spots. Even if he managed to break in, 2.13-meter-tall Ivica Zubac was often waiting for him under the hoop.

As a result, Morant shot 7-for-19 in field goals (FGs). Fourteen of his shots were jumpers and he missed nine of them, including all seven attempts outside the 3-point line. He still got a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists, but it was far from enough for what the team needed from him.

One of the best ways to beat such defense of the Clippers was to rain triples. The Grizzlies took 38.7 attempts behind the arc per game, the sixth-most of all 30 teams this season, but with the worst 3-point rate of 33.4 percent. They made 13 3-pointers out of 40 attempts in Friday's game. Eight of them came from Jaren Jackson Jr. and Marcus Smart who combined to shoot 8-for-19 from outside. Nonetheless, the Clippers could live with that since they limited Desmond Bane, the only shooter that mattered on the opponents' roster, to 2-for-5 behind the arc.

The Clippers didn't do any better than the Grizzlies at the 3-point line as they went 11-for-39 from there. However, James Harden tore the Grizzlies' defense apart surgically, making his side's offense look as smooth as silk. He went 4-for-13 from the field, making all four of his shots in the first quarter, but leaving the opponents the impression that their big men had to close out to help guard Harden, even at the cost of leaving their rim unprotected.

Zubac benefited the most from this process. He went 7-for-8 in FGs, all in the paint, to score 15 points. When a big man was able to make easy buckets continuously, he would be better motivated to work harder on the defensive end. He grabbed 20 rebounds, including 14 on the defensive glass, and limited the Grizzlies to only 48 points in the paint.

Having delivered 13 assists, Harden enabled multiple of his teammates including Zubac, Amir Coffey and Russell Westbrook to attack with excellent efficiency. The Clippers had as many as seven players score double-digit points and led by 21 points (96-75) at most in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies never came back from that deficit.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Oklahoma City Thunder 119-93 Denver Nuggets

The Thunder ended the Nuggets' six-game winning streak with a big win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. In fact, the Nuggets had lost to the Thunder as well before securing the six straight victories.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) dropped 40 points at 70 percent from the field, showing how unstoppable he could be as an isolation attacker. He contributed half of the Thunder's 34 points in the third period when they built a 20-point lead to sit on with comfort.

Chet Holmgren had 24 points for the Thunder. Though it didn't seem as dominant as SGA's work, his performance was just as crucial, especially in changing the opponents' defense. He went 4-for-4 from downtown, forcing Nikola Jokic to walk out of the paint where he worked better defensively.

Moreover, the Thunder gave full play to their defensive aggression with 10 steals. They turned the opponents' 16 turnovers, seven of which were committed by Jokic, into 25 points in fast break. By doing so, they dragged the Nuggets from slow, complicated half-court offense into a simple, fast-pace game full of transitions that the Thunder excel at.

Charlotte Hornets 119-133 Phoenix Suns

The Suns' "Big Three," Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, played their third game together this season and secured their first win at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday.

It was hard for a team to lose when they knocked down 18 triples out of 30 attempts. All 12 shots of Eric Gordon were taken behind the arc and he made seven of them. Booker scored team-high 35 points, but Durant was the best-performing player on the Suns' roster with a double-double of 21 points and 11 assists in addition to three blocks.

The Suns had seven players shoot at least once outside the 3-point line. Five of them drained at least one triple. The two that didn't were Jusuf Nurkic and Beal. However, Nurkic went 10-for-12 in the paint to get 24 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks for the team. By contrast, Beal missed five of his eight FGs and had no more than six points, three rebounds, seven assists and two turnovers.

New York Knicks 108-117 Orlando Magic

Brooklyn Nets 104-110 Washington Wizards

Sacramento Kings 117-110 Atlanta Hawks

Toronto Raptors 118-120 Boston Celtics

Milwaukee Bucks 119-111 Cleveland Cavaliers

Philadelphia 76ers 131-127 Houston Rockets

San Antonio Spurs 128-134 Portland Trail Blazers