Wizards pick up rare win at short-handed Grizzlies' expense

CJ McCollum and Kyshawn George scored 28 points apiece and the visiting Washington Wizards overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 130-122 on Saturday night.

The Wizards snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Grizzlies in Memphis and won for the first time at FedExForum since January 2018.

Santi Aldama scored a career-high 37 points with 10 boards and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 22 to lead the injury riddled Grizzlies. Cam Spencer finished with 19 points and 11 assists. The Grizzlies had won seven of their previous nine games.

Aldama came off the bench to make 15 of 23 shots and give the hobbled Grizzlies a boost, but Memphis allowed 42 third-quarter points to let the Wizards back in. Memphis played without star guard Ja Morant and forward Brandon Clarke injured his right calf in the first quarter and did not return.

Washington won for only the fifth time in 26 games by finishing strong. The Wizards trailed 119-115 with 3:11 to go before outscoring Memphis 15-3 in the final three minutes.

Alex Sarr's corner 3-pointer with 2:16 remaining gave the Wizards a 121-119 lead. They never trailed again. George made three free throws with 31 seconds left for a 126-121 advantage

Morant missed his second straight game with a left ankle sprain. He has missed 14 games this season, including 10 from mid-November to Dec. 7 with a right calf strain.

Clarke returned from injury earlier in the week to make his season debut. He suffered a high-grade PCL in March that ended his 2024-25 season. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee in September that kept him out of the lineup until Wednesday's game at Minnesota.

Memphis built a 20-point lead late in the second quarter and led 68-53 at the break.

The Grizzlies led by double digits until midway through the third quarter before the Wizards put together a 9-0 run on consecutive 3-pointers by Sarr, Khris Middleton and McCollum to trim the lead to 76-71 and gain momentum.

The game was tied at 95-all entering the final quarter following a McCollum driving layup at the buzzer. The Wizards closed the third quarter on a 33-19 run to get back in the game.

The Wizards played without Bilal Coulibaly, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. He had returned Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs after missing the previous four games with an oblique injury.

--Field Level Media