NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA fined the Utah Jazz $100,000 on Wednesday for violating the league’s player participation policy after failing to make leading scorer Lauri Markkanen available for recent games. The league said it was penalizing the team for failing to make Markkanen available at Washington on March 5 as well as other games the past few weeks. The 7-footer from Finland had not played since a win over Houston on Feb. 22. Markkanen, averaging 19.3 points, was available for Wednesday’s game at Memphis after previously being listed as questionable due to a lower back injury. Utah was last in the Western Conference at 15-50. The Washington Wizards were the only team with a worse record at 13-51. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Source link

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Luke Kennard scored 30 points and Ja Morant had 28, helping the Memphis Grizzlies top the Utah Jazz 122-115 on Wednesday night. Kennard went 7 for 9 from 3-point range, and Morant was 4 for 7 from deep. Desmond Bane added 17 points as Memphis posted its fourth straight win. Utah lost its seventh consecutive game. Collin Sexton had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and John Collins also scored 22 points. Sexton scored to give the Jazz a 115-114 lead with 1:16 left, but Kennard responded with a 3 for the Grizzlies. Morant then hit another 3 to make it 120-115 with 12 seconds remaining. Referee Scott Twardoski did not return for the second half, leaving a two-man crew of Ed Malloy and Brandon Schwab. Twardoski was sidelined by an unspecified injury. Takeaways Jazz: The Jazz are winless in March. They went 12 for 34 from 3-point range, compared to 20 for 44 for the Grizzlies. Grizzlies: Kennard and Morant led the way as Memphis continued its fight for home-court advantage in the postseason. Key moment Kennard’s 3-pointer from the right corner fell with 2:50 remaining, and he was fouled by Sexton. He converted