Grizzlies surprise Nuggets with gritty defense late

Ty Jerome hit five 3-pointers on his way to 21 points, and Taylor Hendricks' play off the bench helped key the Memphis defense as the host Grizzlies stunned the Denver Nuggets, 125-118, on Wednesday.

Memphis (24-44) came into Wednesday's matchup, a make-up for a January date postponed due to weather, riding an eight-game losing streak. The injury-depleted Grizzlies roster stepped up to end the skid, with six scorers in double-figures led by Jerome's 21.

Jerome also flirted with a triple-double, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds and dishing a team-leading nine assists.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 19 points, GG Jackson II scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Cedric Coward finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Hendricks, meanwhile, added another 13 points in his role off the bench. But the forward's most pivotal contributions came on defense, where Hendricks swiped six steals.

The last of his six takeaways came at a crucial juncture late in the fourth quarter during a decisive, 9-0 Grizzlies run. Hendricks followed up on his own bucket with a steal on an errant Cam Johnson pass, transitioning into free-throw opportunities for Prosper.

The sequence concluded the spurt, which turned a two-point Memphis advantage into an 11-point gap that proved insurmountable for the Nuggets (42-28).

Hendricks punctuated his defensive effort with a block of Nikola Jokic in the final 80 seconds.

Jokic came just one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with game-highs of 29 points and 14 rebounds, but an aggressive Memphis defensive strategy forced the three-time Most Valuable Player into 10 turnovers -- nearly half of Denver's 19 giveaways on the night.

Memphis converted those takeaways into a whopping 27-10 points-off-turnovers advantage.

The Grizzlies also dominated the Nuggets in bench points, getting 43 from the reserves to just 18 for the Nuggets. Tim Hardaway Jr. accounted for the bulk of Denver's bench points with 11.

Christian Braun and Cam Johnson scored 26 and 20 points for the Nuggets, with Johnson shooting 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Jamal Murray added 19 points with a game-high 12 assists in the loss.

--Field Level Media