The Nets (24-37) tried to do the same in the waning moments after pulling within three points with 6.7 ticks on the clock.
Mikal Bridges, who buried a pair of free throws after being fouled beyond the arc, tried to miss his third to give Brooklyn a chance at an offensive rebound and a potential tying 3-pointer.
But Bridges stepped into the lane early, resulting in a violation and ending any hope of the Nets completing their first three-game winning streak since Dec. 2-8.
Brooklyn pulled within two games of the 10th-place Hawks for the final spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament with consecutive wins here last Thursday and Saturday.
Bridges, who put up 38 points in the finale vs. Atlanta, went a dismal 4-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-9 from the charity stripe against the Grizzlies (21-41), who had also dropped five straight on the road.
“I was out there 39 minutes. Just a bad one from me,” lamented Bridges. “Take a lot of the blame for tonight.”
Jake LaRavia had 14 points and 10 boards for Memphis, which piled up 25 second-chance points and grabbed 15 rebounds off the offensive glass.
“We got a lot of crucial offensive rebounds that helped us get extra possessions, so just something that we’ve been focusing on more lately,” LaRavia said.
Memphis was without an essential part of its rotation, including Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart.
It hardly mattered as Kennard, averaging 10.5 points per contest this season, went a blistering 8-of-11 from the floor, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range. He also handed out seven assists in 27 ultra-productive minutes.
“It definitely feels good to get a game like that and on top of it to get a win,” Kennard told the Associated Press. “We’ve struggled the last five, six games here.
“We have…
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