Ja Morant has 22 points and 10 assists in return, leads Grizzlies to season-opening win over Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ja Morant had 22 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in his return to action to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 126-124 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

Morant appeared in just nine games last season after serving a 25-game league suspension before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Santi Aldama scored 27 points and Desmond Bane added 24 more for the Grizzlies.

Lauri Markkanen had 35 points and nine rebounds for Utah. Jordan Clarkson chipped in for 17 points and seven assists off the bench. Walker Kessler had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The Jazz erased a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter and tied it at 116 on Kessler’s tip-in with 2:48 left. Aldama scored back-to-back baskets to put the Grizzlies in front for good.

Grizzlies: Memphis cooked the Jazz from the perimeter for the bulk of four quarters. Aldama, Bane, and Jay Huff combined for 12 of the Grizzlies' 17 3-poiners.

Jazz: Sloppiness on offense undermined Utah’s efforts to rally until the fourth quarter. The Jazz committed 16 turnovers, leading to 22 points for Memphis, in the first three quarters.

After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, Utah took a 105-104 lead with 6:45 left after a 17-3 run. Taylor Hendricks and Markkanen combined for two baskets and four free throws in the run to set up a tight finish.

Huff had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, marking just the fourth time in his NBA career – and the first time in two seasons – that he's scored in the double digits.

The Grizzlies visit Houston on Friday, and the Jazz host Golden State on the same night.

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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) holds the ball against the Utah Jazz during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) looks to drive against Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) brings the ball up the court against Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) blocks the shot of Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) lays the ball up against Utah Jazz forward John Collins (20) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama (7) reacts to a play against the Utah Jazz during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) dribbles past Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Three white men serving life in prison for murder after chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 are returning to court Thursday to ask a judge for a new trial.

Attorneys for Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their former neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan are making a range of arguments for a new trial, from a tainted jury to ineffective counsel for one of the men. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley, who was the judge in their 2021 murder trial and handed down their sentences, has set aside up to two days to hear their legal motions.

The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and jumped in a pickup truck to chase Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, after they saw him run past their house on Feb. 23, 2020, in a subdivision outside the port city of Brunswick. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael firing shotgun blasts at close range into Arbery, who fell fatally wounded in the street.

No arrests were made in Arbery's killing for more than two months, until Bryan's cellphone video leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from police. Arbery's death became part of a broader reckoning on racial injustice in the criminal legal system along with the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

Defense attorneys argued during the Georgia trial that the armed pursuit was justified because the McMichaels and Bryan suspected Arbery was a thief and sought to detain him for police. Travis McMichael testified that he opened fire in self-defense when Arbery attacked with his fists. Police found no evidence Arbery had stolen anything or committed other crimes in the neighborhood.

An attorney for Travis McMichael, Pete Donaldson, said in a legal filing that he plans to present evidence that the jury’s verdict was tainted by “outside influences” and “extraneous prejudicial information.” The information came to light in a private investigator’s recorded interviews with three jurors in 2022, Donaldson wrote, giving no other details.

Greg McMichael's lawyer, Jerry Chappell, said he was supporting Donaldson's effort to question the verdict's fairness.

Bryan’s lawyer, Rodney Zell, argued in a written motion that Bryan's trial attorney was ineffective. He noted that Bryan, on his previous lawyer's advice, had agreed to be interviewed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Zell said Bryan was ill-prepared to speak with investigators and managed to “incriminate himself.”

Zell also wrote that the judge had wrongly prohibited defense attorneys from presenting trial evidence of “prior bad acts” by Arbery. Defense attorneys had sought to use evidence of Arbery's past run-ins with law enforcement, including two arrests, as well as mental health records to argue that the McMichaels rightly feared that he might be dangerous.

Walmsley ruled before the trial that such evidence related to Arbery's character was irrelevant to the murder case, because none of the defendants knew him prior to the deadly chase.

Seeking a new trial marks a first step by the three defendants in challenging their murder convictions. Walmsley sentenced both McMichaels to life in prison without parole, while giving Bryan a chance of parole.

The men were also convicted of federal hate crimes in U.S. District Court after a separate trial in February 2022. The jury concluded the trio targeted Arbery because he was Black. Prosecutors presented two dozen social media posts and text messages, as well as witness testimony, that showed all three men used racist slurs or otherwise disparaged Black people.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in March from attorneys asking the court to overturn the hate crimes verdict. A decision on the federal appeals is still pending.

FILE - Civil rights activist Porchse Miller, of Atlanta, shouts into a megaphone in front of a mural of Ahmaud Arbery during march that followed the Wall of Prayer event outside the Glynn County Courthouse, Nov. 18, 2021, in Brunswick, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

FILE - This combination of photos shows, from left, Travis McMichael, William "Roddie" Bryan and Gregory McMichael during their trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga. (AP Photo/Pool, File)