Grizzlies continue 3-game winning streak with victory over Magic
The Memphis Grizzlies survive an Orlando Magic surge in the 2nd half to come away with a 107-106 victory, extending their winning streak to 3 games.
The Memphis Grizzlies came home after a 4-game, 2-2 road trip after wins against the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors. Entering last night’s game with a 4-15 home record, they were looking to continue their winning ways while treating the home crowd to a win.
In the first half, the two teams got into a shootout, as defense was rather absent. The Grizzlies made 12 of their 15 three-pointers in the first half, and the Magic countered with paint pressure — shooting 18/23 on 2’s and taking 15 free throw attempts.
The game was definitely tighter in the 2nd half. The Grizzlies’ lack of primary playmakers really showed, as they struggled to get into their offense. Orlando continued to play with force, spearheaded from Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr.
The game went down to the last shot. Fortunately, Joe Ingles missed an open 3 attempt, and Franz Wagner was late on the put-back attempt — securing another victory for the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies.
The ball’s humming
The Memphis Grizzlies are making up for its absences in the rotation with togetherness, and it showed in their assists numbers. They dished out 30 assists on 42 made shot attempts. They also had 4 players with 4+ assists — Luke Kennard (6), Ziaire Williams and Santi Aldama (5), Vince Williams Jr. (4).
The ball movement is evident through their drive-and-kick. Though they lost a ton of rim pressure, they’re alleviating it through utilizing paint touches to scramble the defense to generate open 3’s. It’s a sound strategy, as even if it may not lead to 3’s, they can create advantage through a scrambled defense by attacking closeouts for a better paint touch.
Let’s dive into the dishes here.
Luke Kennard with the hit-ahead to Santi Aldama
Aldama hitting John Konchar cutting to the paint
Konchar kicking to Vince Williams in the corner
Williams attacking the closeout with the pump-fake, and finding Aldama behind the arc after the paint touch (peek the subtle flair)
Aldama uses the pump-fake for the closeout, and swings a slingshot to Jaren Jackson Jr. on the weak-side
Jackson makes the extra pass to Kennard. Bucket.
The sort of togetherness and ball movement to discombobulate a defense was tantalizing. It's also a ticket to keep the ship sailing through his short-handed stretch.
Bounce-back Ziaire game
Ziaire Williams struggled in the Grizzlies’ road trip, but this game was a nice turnaround performance for the 3rd-year wing. He finished with 17 points on 7-10 shooting (3-6 from 3), 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.
His 3-point shooting looked fluid, not lacking any sort of confidence when firing his 3’s. The confidence bled into his live-dribble game as both a scorer and a playmaker. He drove with assertiveness, not shying away from contact on his way to the bucket — while also showing craft and nice gear-shifting with euro-step layups or mid-range jumpers. As a playmaker, he made legitimately good reads within the flow of the offense, several instances as an initiator — and a few with some sauce.
Defensively, he tallied away two steals, but he was also a catalyst with his individual defense on Franz Wagner.
All in all, the key with Ziaire Williams is his confidence, and it was a thrill to see his flashes when he’s in a zone.
Bully ball
If you like physical basketball, this game was the one for you.
Jaren Jackson Jr., once again, sought mismatches and trucked his way to the bucket nearly whenever he wanted to. His efficiency won’t show for it, as he scored 30 points on 30 shot attempts. His whistle wasn’t great, as he only went to the foul line for 5 free throw attempts — a rather minuscule number for 25 two-point field goal tries.
Paolo Banchero took charge later in the game. He leveraged his downhill attack and physicality to score in the paint and to get to the free throw line. The Grizzlies did a good job initially shutting the 3-ball down (2-9), but his drive game was overwhelming (6-11 on 2’s, 9-11 from free throw line).
It was nice to get a flashback of the dominant power forward play seen in years past, from 2 players that have been forces lately.
Wendell Watch…
Separate note here, as Wendell Carter Jr.’s could’ve been mentioned in the bully ball, but it’s trade deadline season, and people are throwing his name out there as a target.
If Orlando is actually interested in trading for them, then he put on one heck of an audition.
Carter filled up the stat sheet — finishing with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 stocks, and 2 assists on 8-9 shooting (2-3 from 3). He made himself available as a cutter and trailer. Though Jackson had his way offensively, his physicality was evident on that side of the floor.
Given his recent stretch, I don’t know how willing Orlando is to trade him, but if they are, then he’s surely near the top of the Grizzlies’ wish list.
The Grizzlies hit the road tomorrow for a matinee against the Indiana Pacers at 2:30 PM CST.
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