Ja Morant catches the Wembanyama moment, Grizzlies start 2024 with a win

The Memphis Grizzlies' defense fuels a win in the first game of 2024. Ja Morant also dunks over Victor Wembanyama.

The Memphis Grizzlies came into last night’s game looking to get 2024 off to a good start, as the San Antonio Spurs came to town. It was Memphis fans first look at Victor Wembanyama (more on that).

Despite the slow start, the Grizzlies ultimately turned up a notch on both sides of the ball, as they snapped a 3-game losing streak with a win.

First Look at Wemby

It’s crazy to say, but … Victor Wembanyama is taller than advertised.

His on-court impact is rather evident early. His catch radius at his size is unreal, making him a near impossible lob threat to catch. He has a high release point on his jumper, and when he elevates for dunks. Wemby also pulled off his patented one-legged 3-pointer from way downtown, his signature-move jumper that captivated the world in the pre-draft cycle.

What stood out immediately was his defense. I haven’t seen anyone cover so much space with sheer size and mobility. He alters the geometry of the floor defensively, just obliterating any angle the offense may think it’s generated. Taylor Jenkins said it best: “he can cover a mile in one or two steps.”

Wemby made his presence known with his rim deterrence, swatting 4 shots. However, the Grizzlies ultimately found a way to navigate his presence. They sought to put him in different spaces to generate paint touches — getting him in space through switches to gain an extra step, pulling him higher out of drop to find the dunker spot, and keeping the ball moving to get him out on the weak side of the action. Santi Aldama also hilariously threw a nutmeg pass through Wemby’s legs to hit Vince Williams on the opposite wing.

It takes a lot of next action mentality. I mean, our screening angles, we knew that they were trying to go under a lot. It’s a really important part of the game plan offensively that we did a fairly decent job. I thought that led to a lot of our downhill attacks, but obviously only a two-game sample size against him and he comes out of nowhere. I mean, you’ve got to get him moving laterally, side to side, you got to put them in different spots on the floor. Sometimes he’s in the main action. Sometimes he’s in the strong side. He’s the weak side. Sometimes he’s coming, sometimes he’s not coming. You just got to find those cracks to be able to get to the paint, get to the rim and when he does come, you see that big presence there, just trusting that early pass.

Wembanyama’s first trip to Memphis lived up to its billing — for both squads…

And Ja went for it

Everytime Ja Morant had Victor Wembanyama in space, the crowd buzzed in anticipation of the moment. Since Wembanyama’s arrival, many people — locally and nationally — were wondering when (not if) Ja Morant would go for the poster dunk on Victor Wembanyama.

Though Wembanyama did get Ja on a layup early in the game, Morant found the moment. The crowd absolutely erupted, and the energy shifted.

Morant downplayed the moment — calling it a “rim glazer,” and saying that his dad referred to it as a “hard layup.” Though it wasn’t an emphatic dunk with full poster contact, Morant’s elevation into a standing dunk at his size remains so impressive.

Morant got Wembanyama for a sweet acrobatic layup, and also made him pay for sagging off a 3.

The game lacked much punch for the 1st 40 minutes, but that moment from Morant more than made up for it.

Offense flow — slow, but building up

The game though felt pretty slow for the majority of the night. The Grizzlies’ offense took awhile to get going, tallying only 20 points in the first quarter. Despite the offensive struggles, their defensive pressure was air-tight — preventing the Spurs from getting easy looks in the paint (only 44 points in the paint).

The Grizzlies started to find their offense slowly, but it really opened up through the 2nd and 3rd quarter. They found their way to get the ball moving to trigger multiple actions to generate clean scoring opportunities. Their stops allowed them to get into early offense.

Their bench deserves credit for bringing them out of the mud a bit, as the trio of Luke Kennard, Santi Aldama, and Vince Williams Jr. combined for 33 points (11-19 shooting, 6-14 from 3) and 21 rebounds. Aldama’s play-finishing and Kennard and Williams’ outside shooting were big boosts off the bench.

The Grizzlies’ offense isn’t totally solved, as they’re still at the bottom of the league in offensive efficiency. However, more time together after the absence-riddled start should elevate this offense, especially if they keep up the ball and player movement.

Big 3 at their strengths

The “Big 3” played to their strengths in last night’s game and generated momentum towards the win.

Jaren Jackson Jr. set the tone defensively with his presence. He finished with 4 blocks and 3 steals, altering shots both at the rim and in space. He lurked everywhere inside the arc to muck up the Spurs’ downhill attack, an emphasis for the Grizzlies going into this game.

Desmond Bane was relentless getting to the rim, as he made 7 of his 8 attempts inside the paint. His finishing ability around Wembanyama was rather remarkable. Bane’s self-served 7-0 run really helped the wheels get going, and at the same time, he highlighted his evolving 3-level scoring with a mid-range jumper, running left-handed scoop layup, and catch-and-shoot 3-point prowess.

Ja Morant didn’t crash the paint as much as usually, as 9 of his 15 shot attempts came from beyond the arc. He leveraged his rim pressure though to keep the ball moving and find his open teammates for scoring opportunities, while also ultimately getting to his spots inside as well.

The Grizzlies will go as far as their Big 3 will take them, and the star trio got it done on both sides of the ball.

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