MEMPHIS – Ja Morant found it hard to get going on Tuesday night, but when he finally got in the groove, he was nearly impossible to stop.

The Memphis guard produced a second-half scoring spree as the Grizzlies exploited the absence of LeBron James to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-109 at home.

After being restricted to just six points as the Lakers took a 49-46 lead into the break, Morant erupted with 28 points in the third quarter to tip the National Basketball Association (NBA) contest decisively in his team’s favour.

“I was just feeling it,” he said.

“I was locked in, I got going and was able to keep it rolling and put us in a good position to win the game.

“The shots I missed early in that first half were the shots that I made in that third quarter. I told my teammates at half-time I wasn’t going to miss too many more of those. I got it going, and the rest is history.”

Morant finished with 39 points and had a triple-double, which included 10 rebounds and a game-high-tying 10 assists.

The 39 points were his second-most this season (he had 49 against the Houston Rockets in October), while the triple-double was his sixth of the campaign.

“Obviously, Ja had a special third quarter,” said Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins, whose team improved to 37-23, just behind Western Conference leaders the Denver Nuggets (44-19).

“He was just in attack mode.”

The Memphis win snapped the Lakers’ three-game winning streak and put another dent in the team’s recent resurgence following the injury to James last Sunday.

James, who is reportedly facing weeks out after injuring his right foot in a victory over Dallas, was seen wearing a protective boot on the sidelines as his depleted team slipped to defeat.

Los Angeles (29-33) were also without the injured D’Angelo Russell, and the absence of the team’s two most assured ball-handlers was keenly felt, with the team coughing up 26 turnovers for 41 points.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers scoring with 28 points while Lonnie Walker IV added 21 off the bench.

“We’ve got some guys out of the line-up obviously, but we have capable players, and we have to be conscious of making the simple play,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.

“You turn the ball over, it’s hard to get your defence set.”

Elsewhere, Denver star Nikola Jokic became the sixth player in NBA history to record 100 career triple-doubles during the Nuggets’ 133-112 road win against the Houston Rockets.

Jokic’s jump shot just 2min 25sec into the third quarter gave him 10 points and allowed him to reach the milestone. He already was in double digits in rebounds and assists.

The Serb finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in three quarters of action.

Russell Westbrook holds the NBA mark of 198 triple-doubles. The other players over the century mark are Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138), Jason Kidd (107) and James (106).

“I appreciate how we played,” said Jokic, who has 24 triple-doubles this season, including 15 in the past 20 games.

“That’s what I appreciate. All the achievements, awards, contracts or whatever, it’s just... you don’t chase it. I think it’s going to be the best when you finish (your) career and just look behind you and see what you did.”

In Brooklyn, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points as the Milwaukee Bucks stretched their winning streak to 15 games with a come-from-behind 118-104 victory over the Nets.

Brooklyn, who are rebuilding after the departures of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, sprinted into a 34-22 first-quarter lead and remained in front for the remainder of the half to lead by 10 points at the break.

But a third-quarter scoring blitz from Milwaukee – outscoring Brooklyn by 39-23 – saw the Eastern Conference leaders (44-17) finally edge clear 91-85 heading into the fourth quarter, before closing out the win. AFP, REUTERS