The Miami Heat escaped the Atlanta Hawks in an overtime thriller, and the Memphis Grizzlies handily defeated the Dallas Mavericks to keep their seasons alive and advance to the NBA playoffs.

Ja Morant, playing with a sprained right ankle, put up 22 points, while Jaren Jackson Jr. paced the Grizzlies with 24 as Memphis never gave up the lead during their 120-106 win. The eighth-seeded Grizzlies move on to the NBA playoffs to face the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder.

Meanwhile, Anthony Davis tallied 40 points in Dallas’ loss while nursing a groin injury throughout the game. The loss ends a disappointing season for the Mavs, who signed Klay Thompson last offseason and traded Luka Dončić for Davis in a blockbuster move in their aim to win a championship.

In Friday’s first Play-In Tournament game, Tyler Herro led the Heat with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as Miami held the lead most of the game. The Hawks went up in the fourth quarter and tied the game for the first time with Terance Mann’s two-pointer with 8:09 left. Herro and the Hawks’ Trae Young traded baskets before Young’s driving layup with 1.1 left in regulation tied the game again, sending it to overtime.

The Heat quickly pulled away to beat the Hawks and earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed in the playoffs, where they will face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

Miami, which defeated the Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday, becomes the first No. 10 seed in Play-In Tournament history to clinch a playoff berth.

Grizzlies 120, Mavericks 106

Ja Morant quiets concerns about his ankle

After a few days of concern over his ankle sprain, Morant quickly quieted all the questions about his health with a thunderous putback dunk in the first quarter, and the Grizzlies were off to the races from there. Memphis led from wire to wire and was up by double digits most of the night en route to an emphatic victory over the Mavericks.

Morant’s highlight plays and heroic effort after a serious ankle injury will get most of the attention after this game, but it was a complete effort from the Grizzlies that overpowered a Mavericks team that didn’t have enough firepower to keep up in this matchup. Morant finished with seven rebounds and nine assists, while Jackson chipped in seven rebounds. Desmond Bane added 22 points and nine assists. All five Memphis starters scored at least 13 points, and Santi Aldama also chipped in 11 points off the bench.

As bleak as the last month has been in Memphis, the team needed a game like this to lift the spirits of everyone in the building. Now, they’ve got a different challenge ahead with the best team in the NBA awaiting their arrival in a few days. — Will Guillory, NBA staff writer

Mavericks’ disastrous season is over

One of the most disastrous seasons in the Mavericks’ 45-year history is over.

Dallas, which entered the season with championship hopes, missed the playoffs after being eliminated in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament. Three days after general manager Nico Harrison repeatedly said “defense wins championships” as his rationale for trading Dončić, the Mavericks’ defense looked porous in a win-or-go-home game.

The Grizzlies scored 66 first-half points. Morant, who was questionable after landing awkwardly on his right ankle Tuesday, lived in the lane early on.

The Mavericks beat up the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. On Friday, it was a different story against a bigger Grizzlies team. Memphis, which stars Jackson and Zach Edey in its frontcourt, outscored Dallas 60-44 in the paint.

The Mavericks trailed by as many as 25 points. They cut the Grizzlies’ lead to seven points in the third quarter, but that was as close as they got to threatening. Davis didn’t get much help on offense from his teammates as P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II went scoreless.

The Mavericks were 19-10 with the NBA’s No. 4 offense and No. 11 defense going into their Christmas Day game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Then, Dončić strained his left calf, and everything changed for Dallas, which has a long offseason ahead of it. — Christian Clark, Mavericks beat writer

Heat 123, Hawks 114

Miami brings the heat

A combination of timely defensive stops and crucial buckets helped Miami hold off Atlanta’s late-game rally into overtime for the conference’s final playoff seed. While Herro and Bam Adebayo (17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists) led the way, Davion Mitchell was among the Heat’s role players doing everything they could to keep Miami’s season alive.

Mitchell, acquired via trade in February, scored 15 of his 16 points in the second half and overtime. The Heat outscored the Hawks by nine in Mitchell’s 40:02 as a reserve. A huge key to his contributions was a flurry of 3s in overtime to keep Miami ahead. He hit four 3s for the game, including three over about a three-minute span in the final period. Mitchell has been a crucial reason for Miami’s playoff push, given his combination of floor-spacing, defensive contributions and energy.

It was almost a tough loss for the Heat, who led the NBA with 28 clutch-time losses in the regular season, but they continued a strong run of basketball in recent weeks. Miami has ten wins in 14 contests since snapping its 10-game losing streak on March 23. — James Jackson, NBA staff editor

Hawks couldn’t escape Heat

The Hawks fought valiantly but didn’t quite have enough in an overtime loss to Miami that ended their season at 40-42. In the end, they had too little size, too little shooting, and not enough scoring punch, especially after they lost Jalen Johnson to injury and traded De’Andre Hunter midseason.

Still, it’s hard to call the season a failure. Dyson Daniels emerged as an elite defender, other young players like Zaccharie Risacher, Onyeka Okongwu and Mo Gueye developed nicely as the year went on, and the Hawks turned De’Andre Hunter’s iffy contract into multiple draft assets from Cleveland.

The team is miles from contending, but they’re in a better place than 12 months ago. — John Hollinger, NBA senior writer

Hawks’ focus moves to their draft picks

Atlanta will lose its draft pick to San Antonio for the Dejounte Murray trade, but Friday’s defeat also could affect another pick. Atlanta has a top-12 protected pick from Sacramento from the Kevin Huerter trade that may or may not convey based on other results.

With the Grizzlies’ win and if the pick isn’t drawn into the top 4 in the lottery, Atlanta will pick either 13th or 14th. However, if the Dallas Mavericks beat Memphis, there will be a random drawing Monday to determine whether the pick from Sacramento lands 12th or 13th before the lottery. The Hawks would only keep the pick if it were 13th following the lottery.

Will Trae Young stay in Atlanta?

The most immediate question heading into the offseason: What about Trae Young’s future? The All-Star guard has one guaranteed season left on his deal after this one and is eligible to sign an extension this summer.

Does Atlanta want to commit to him for multiple years at the max? Does Young want to stay? Are they concerned about going down that road while trying to develop the rest of the young core? If not, is there a trade here that makes sense?