Memphis held firm despite the tremors. While a drop in the standings could have occurred following the Ja Morant affair, combined with the serious injury of Brandon Clarke, not to mention the absence of Steven Adams, it has now been ten days since the Grizzlies have lost a match and cling to their second place in the West.
In Atlanta tonight, Ja Morant was successfully reinstated in the major five, and the All-Star point guard finished as his team’s top scorer and top passer (27 points, 6 assists). Before him, Memphis relied heavily on Jaren Jackson Jr. And as was the case when the Grizzlies were at their best, the threats change in turn and depending on the profile of the opposition.
Each in turn
There was the heat stroke of Luke Kennard in the previous game won against Houston. In Atlanta, it’s Desmond Bane who came out of the woodwork with 25 units.
“It’s variety”explained the fullback on the strength of these Grizziles. “We have several players who can do several things on the pitch and everyone benefits from that. We share and everyone can eat, it’s our way of playing. It’s Grizzlies basketball, and it’s done pretty well so far.”
The other very good news is the remarkable return of Ja Morant to the major five with his best performance since the end of his suspension. Again, this bodes well for the future.
“I’m slowly getting closer, I’m starting to feel much more at ease”he confided. “I’m also finding my legs little by little. The staff prepares me well and makes sure that I am ready for a string of matches. I trust them 100% in the way they handle me and bring me back to power”.
Raising the bar on the outside
Eight games from the end of the regular season, Memphis also rectified the situation by seeking a third victory in four away games, when they had nevertheless encountered a lot of difficulties away from home this season. Of the 12 teams currently in the Top 6 in each conference, only Golden State (9-29) has a worse away record than Memphis (15 wins – 22 losses).
“After the All-Star Break, we had a team meeting and that’s what we talked about, that we had to be better on the outside. We accepted this challenge, and we have been better since.”added Desmond Bane.
There are still four away games left at the Grizzlies, Chicago, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City to continue polishing their game before the serious stuff begins.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Ja Morant | 55 | 32.1 | 46.6 | 31.5 | 74.6 | 1.1 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 8.1 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 26.7 |
| Desmond Bane | 51 | 31.2 | 47.4 | 40.7 | 88.8 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 21.1 |
| Jaren Jackson, Jr. | 56 | 28.1 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 78.0 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 6.6 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 18.0 |
| Dillon Brooks | 66 | 30.3 | 39.2 | 32.6 | 78.8 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 3.3 | 14.2 |
| Tyus Jones | 73 | 24.1 | 44.4 | 38.6 | 80.4 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 5.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 10.5 |
| Brandon Clarke | 56 | 19.5 | 65.6 | 16.7 | 72.3 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 10.0 |
| Luke Kennard | 17 | 22.3 | 50.0 | 54.7 | 93.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 9.9 |
| Santi Aldama | 70 | 22.0 | 47.0 | 35.3 | 74.0 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 9.2 |
| steven adams | 42 | 27.0 | 59.7 | 0.0 | 36.4 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 11.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 8.6 |
| David Roddy | 61 | 17.2 | 43.8 | 30.0 | 63.5 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 6.6 |
| Xavier Tillman, Sr. | 54 | 18.3 | 59.9 | 26.7 | 55.7 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 6.5 |
| John Konchar | 65 | 21.0 | 42.7 | 35.1 | 81.8 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 5.2 |
| Zaire Williams | 36 | 14.7 | 42.4 | 24.7 | 77.8 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 5.2 |
| Kenny Lofton, Jr. | 18 | 5.3 | 50.0 | 41.7 | 54.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Jake Laravia | 33 | 11.9 | 38.5 | 32.8 | 77.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| Danny Green | 3 | 14.5 | 27.3 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Kennedy Chandler | 32 | 8.0 | 40.8 | 13.3 | 46.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| Vincent Williams, Jr. | 11 | 4.7 | 28.6 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
