It remained in the air for a short eternity. But Ja Morant, who went to attack the circle in front of Malik Monk, did not manage to finish despite his athletic qualities. This action from the fourth quarter of the meeting between Grizzlies and Kings clearly reflects the Memphis leader's difficulties in scoring.
Particularly in the racket, where he is nevertheless formidable. Since his return from suspension, he averaged 27 points, including 16 scored in the opposing paint. This night, he only made one basket near the circle, and finished with a poor copy of 17 points for only 4/12 on shots.
This ratio also testifies to the good defensive performance of the Californians, starting with Chris Duarte. Established in place of a Kevin Huerter lacking inspiration in recent weeks, the former Pacers player greatly hampered the leader opposite.
“ We wanted to be physical, to make contact. (Duarte) was ready. There were times when he wasn't in the rotation, when he was coming off the bench. Tonight, he starts, with such a duel, I think he was excellent. He defended him without making a mistake, trying to stay in front of him. He gave us a boost on that side of the field “, appreciates De’Aaron Fox. Mike Brown talks about a job “ phenomenal » recalling that two days earlier, he had had to rub shoulders with Trae Young.
13 points conceded in the last quarter
Insufficient, however, to recover the honorary title of defender of the match on the Kings side. With his 21 rebounds captured, in addition to 13 points and 12 assists, his 6th triple-double of the season, Domantas Sabonis was rewarded for his impact in the paint.
Where the Grizzlies only scored 32 points (compared to 58 for the Kings) and were overwhelmed on the rebound (59-34).
At the end, a victory of 31 points, and above all only 92 points conceded, including 34 in the second half (13 in the last quarter): one of the smallest offensive outings of the year for the Grizzlies, the best defensive performance for the Kings.
“ It's probably the best defensive performance we've had since I've been here “, goes even further Mike Brownin his second season with the Kings.
The coach mentions the poor 37% shooting success rate of Memphis players, their only offensive rebound captured, the fact that his players followed the game plan… “ I talk to our guys about controllable elements, we have to communicate on defense. We must be physical without making mistakes and we must increase our efforts until the end of the possession. We control these three things 100%. » With a 100% positive result last night.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| De'aaron Fox | 24 | 35.4 | 48.8 | 40.4 | 72.4 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 30.2 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 30 | 34.8 | 59.6 | 36.1 | 66.3 | 3.2 | 8.8 | 12.0 | 7.4 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 19.6 |
| Keegan Murray | 26 | 32.7 | 44.3 | 35.9 | 85.1 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 15.5 |
| Malik Monk | 29 | 25.0 | 42.9 | 40.1 | 88.7 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 14.1 |
| Harrison Barnes | 30 | 30.4 | 47.9 | 38.5 | 83.8 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 11.4 |
| Kevin Huerter | 29 | 24.5 | 42.7 | 35.2 | 78.3 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 10.4 |
| Trey Lyles | 17 | 19.9 | 43.5 | 32.8 | 60.9 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 6.8 |
| Sasha Vezenkov | 26 | 13.3 | 42.6 | 36.7 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.3 |
| Javale McGee | 26 | 8.6 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 55.6 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 4.7 |
| Keon Ellis | 22 | 13.7 | 40.8 | 35.0 | 64.7 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 4.1 |
| Chris Duarte | 27 | 12.5 | 37.0 | 29.6 | 77.8 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 3.6 |
| Davion Mitchell | 23 | 13.0 | 34.1 | 25.0 | 76.9 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 3.6 |
| Colby Jones | 12 | 6.4 | 45.2 | 12.5 | 66.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.6 |
| Alex Len | 8 | 7.0 | 70.0 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Jordan Ford | 6 | 3.6 | 57.1 | 66.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Philip Petrusev | 2 | 3.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Kessler Edwards | 24 | 5.0 | 40.6 | 35.0 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Jalen Slawson | 5 | 3.7 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Juan Toscano-anderson | 5 | 3.0 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
