On Friday night, electrifying point guard Ja Morant won’t get the chance to dunk on reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. And reserve forward Brandon Clarke won’t be able to provide the jolting spike of an energy drink in his customary role off the bench.
The Grizzlies must look elsewhere for that extra boost against the Bucks.
If facing surging Milwaukee wasn’t daunting enough, Memphis is tasked with doing so without its dynamic rookie tandem to open a three-game homestand against the NBA’s hottest team.
With Morant and Clarke recently returning from injuries ahead of three games in four nights, the Grizzlies are in a delicate position. They are balancing the recovery and initial workloads of two of the team’s most productive players. As a result, Morant and Clarke are ruled out for Friday’s game against the Bucks and scheduled to be available Saturday against the Wizards.
We’re just trying to build each game. I feel our young guys are soaking everything in and applying as much of what we’re trying to do as possible. It takes time. But it feels good when everything you’re trying to do starts to come together.
Morant is sitting out for what the team has referenced as “injury maintenance-back,” which stems from soreness that sidelined the reigning Western Conference rookie of the month for four consecutive games. Morant returned Monday and sparked the Grizzlies to wins in Golden State and Phoenix to close out their recent four-game trip.
Clarke is listed as out Friday due to “injury maintenance-left oblique” on the heels of his return Wednesday in Phoenix after missing the previous four games. After facing Washington on Saturday, the Grizzlies wrap up the compacted homestand Monday against the Heat.
The Grizzlies on Thursday returned to Memphis after 10 days on the road, hoping to extend a productive push from the end of their longest trip of the season. The wins over the Warriors and Suns coincided with the returns of Morant and Clarke after losses to the Bulls and Jazz.
“Hopefully with a home crowd behind us, we can keep this momentum going and get some wins,” veteran forward Jae Crowder said. “We’re just trying to build each game. I feel our young guys are soaking everything in and applying as much of what we’re trying to do as possible. It takes time. But it feels good when everything you’re trying to do starts to come together.”
The Grizzlies (8-16) won’t have to search far for additional motivation as they again regroup without Morant and Clarke, who combine to average 30.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks a game this season.
The game will also mark the first time Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins faces his closest mentor and former team. Jenkins was hired in Memphis last summer after spending last season on Mike Budenholzer’s staff with the Bucks, who posted the East’s best record. Milwaukee got to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors.
Prior to arriving in Milwaukee last season, Jenkins was on Budenholzer’s staff in Atlanta for five years during the Hawks’ perennial playoff runs that peaked with a 60-win season in 2015. Part of what attracted the Grizzlies to Jenkins was the role he played in the development of many of Milwaukee’s top players, including Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
Jenkins has transitioned from coaching with one of the NBA’s top title contenders to now laying the foundation for a promising young roster anchored by two rookies and talented second-year forward Jaren Jackson Jr. Whereas the Bucks are ripe for a breakthrough, the Grizzlies are gradually building toward a promising future.
The Bucks (22-3) are off to their best start in franchise history through 25 games and come in riding the NBA’s longest current winning streak at 16 games.
“I don’t think Bud is going to pull any punches, as much as I love him and he loves me,” Jenkins told Grind City Media. “We’re going to go out there to compete, and that’s what I learned so much from him. It’s going to be a fun challenge. We may toast a glass of wine after the game or before. But once we’re inside those lines, we’re both going out there only trying to win.”
Milwaukee might also be without key personnel, too. Antetokounmpo is questionable with quad soreness after missing his first game this season on Wednesday. It didn’t slow the Bucks, who crushed the Pelicans to extend the second-longest winning streak in franchise history.
The Bucks are also in the midst of three games in a stretch of four nights. Their only visit of the season to Memphis is the lone road game in that span, with the Bucks returning home for Saturday’s game against the Cavaliers.
The NBA’s strengthened injury management policies encourage teams to opt for maintenance or resting players at home games instead of on the road. That’s particularly the case among star players who make limited visits to opposing markets. In a sense, that approach factors in how the Grizzlies approach sitting Morant at home amid injury maintenance. It may factor in how the Bucks handle Antetokounmpo.
In either case, the Grizzlies are gearing up for one of the most difficult defensive assignments in the league. Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals in 31.6 minutes. His scoring and rebounding are career highs, and he would become the fourth player in NBA history – potentially joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor – to average at least 30 points, 13 boards and five assists for a season.
We’re going to go out there to compete, and that’s what I learned so much from him. It’s going to be a fun challenge. We may toast a glass of wine after the game or before. But once we’re inside those lines, we’re both going out there only trying to win.
Unless that sore quad sidelines the ‘Greek Freak,’ the Grizzlies will have to contain him.
“His MVP (trophy) is enough said,” Jackson said of Antetokounmpo. “He’s been doing it at a high level and his growth has been unreal. Every summer he comes back with something added to his game, by getting more explosive and getting smarter. They’re the best team in the league. You’ve got to make Giannis uncomfortable. You’ve got to focus on the little things because the little things executed on defense are what’s going to have to carry us.”
With or without Antetokounmpo on the court, the Grizzlies will try to rekindle the swarming defense and offensive balance that carried them to their last two victories.
Memphis held both Golden State and Phoenix below 40 percent shooting from the field, scored 24 points off Warriors’ turnovers and hounded the Suns into missing 25 of 34 three-point shots. Offensively, the Grizzlies had five double-figure scorers in both wins, got contributions from all 11 players in the rotation and controlled games in the second half by avoiding scoring droughts.
Morant scored 13 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter against Golden State, then capped the win in Phoenix with a vicious dunk over Suns center Aron Baynes. That game also featured Clarke’s near-flawless impact off the bench by making five of six shots, including a pair of three-pointers, to finish with 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes.
He’s been doing it at a high level and his growth has been unreal. Every summer he comes back with something added to his game, by getting more explosive and getting smarter. They’re the best team in the league. You’ve got to make Giannis uncomfortable. You’ve got to focus on the little things because the little things executed on defense are what’s going to have to carry us.
“We don’t talk about results a whole lot; we talk about how we need to work every single day, our mentality, our approach,” Jenkins said of his takeaway from the road trip. “You go to Chicago and have a chance to win, but it doesn’t go your way. We had a really tough one in Utah, but most of those games we’re competing. We play well in Golden State for 48 minutes, and in Phoenix against a team that beat us and is making a push for the playoffs. Credit to our guys (for) having the mentality to be resilient and embracing what we do, no matter the score.”
While Jenkins speaks affectionately about facing his former team, his current Memphis players are aware of the competitive edge burning just beneath the surface.
“Obviously, we know how much this game means to him,” Crowder said. “We want to get the win for him.”
Grizzlies forward Solomon Hill mentioned how the team delivered for their coach in another emotional reunion game. Jenkins got his first NBA job as an intern in San Antonio, where he met Budenholzer and gradually worked his way through the ranks in the Spurs’ organization.
You go to Chicago and have a chance to win, but it doesn’t go your way. We had a really tough one in Utah, but most of those games we’re competing. We play well in Golden State for 48 minutes, and in Phoenix against a team that beat us and is making a push for the playoffs. Credit to our guys (for) having the mentality to be resilient and embracing what we do, no matter the score.
One of the Grizzlies best performances of the season came when they got a rare road victory over the Spurs on Nov. 11 in Jenkins’ first matchup against former boss Gregg Popovich.
“Those are definitely guys he still considers family,” Hill said of Jenkins and Budenholzer being extensions of the Popovich tree. “It’ll be the same kind of emotion that (Jenkins) felt when we played against Pop and the Spurs. These are definitely games that are for bragging rights when they see each other in the summer at coaching clinics, where they’ll want to give each other a nudge about. (Jenkins) is very excited for it and it shows in how he prepares for the game.”
Count on Jenkins to have the shorthanded Grizzlies prepared, too.
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