MEMPHIS – Typically, this is the point in the NBA schedule
when a team starts to gain an adequate grasp of what it has, where it’s
headed and what’s needed to help it get there.
But this is hardly a typical NBA season.
So the traditional norms associated with reaching the 20-game mark of the
schedule don’t necessarily apply amid the numerous challenges and changes
that have defined the league’s first two months of this season.
All things considered, the Grizzlies arrive at this juncture of the schedule
in decent shape, though hardly healthy overall. At 10-10, they’ve
essentially treaded some choppy waters to carry a .500 record into this
weekend’s two-game trip to California, where they face the defending
champion Lakers on Friday and the Kings on Sunday.
Along the way, coach Taylor Jenkins has navigated the NBA’s
second-youngest playing rotation through the high tides of a seven-game
winning streak followed by a four-game losing skid that ended with
Wednesday’s record-setting home victory over the Hornets.
You just keep trusting it. I told the guys that this is (about) staying
the course after some hard times. It happens in the NBA season, but we’ve
had a great spirit. That’s one thing we talk about at length – your
spirit’s got to be there whether you’re winning or losing. You’ve got to
stay the course.
So how should these Grizzlies assess themselves with nearly a third of the
truncated, 72-game season behind them? Encouragingly incomplete.
Memphis Grizzlies looks on during the fourth quarter of an NBA game
against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Photo by Sean
Gardner/Getty Images.
“We’re built the right way,” Jenkins said of his team’s resilience. “You
just keep trusting it. I told the guys that this is (about) staying the
course after some hard times. It happens in the NBA season, but we’ve had a
great spirit. That’s one thing we talk about at length – your spirit’s got
to be there whether you’re winning or losing. You’ve got to stay the
course.”
The course through their first 20 games has required the Grizzlies to adapt
to some level of adversity on almost a nightly basis. That treacherous
terrain continues this weekend as the team is forced to adjust to another
lineup shift.
Rookie sharpshooter Desmond Bane is expected to miss both
games of the trip for what the team listed as personal reasons. Bane
referenced the recent death of his grandmother on his social media posts
this week. Averaging 10.3 points on 48.2-percent shooting from three-point
range (fifth-best in NBA), Bane was elevated to the starting shooting guard
spot this week and was coming off a season-best, 18-point effort in
Wednesday’s game against Charlotte.
Jenkins will reshuffle his opening lineup yet again for a team that has
already used seven different starting units through the first 20 games. The
Grizzlies also continue to be without their two most energetic and athletic
defenders in power forward Brandon Clarke (calf) and combo
guard De’Anthony Melton (shoulder) because of nagging
injuries that have kept them out of the past few contests. Both are
considered day-to-day but will miss a third straight game.
In addition to the season-long absences of expected starters
Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee surgery rehab) and
Justise Winslow (hip displacement rehab), the Memphis
roster entered the weekend with players collectively missing 98 total games
to injuries this season.
Yet, the Grizzlies keep finding a way to grind forward.
On Wednesday, that meant capitalizing on a scintillating shooting
performance in which the Grizzlies knocked down a franchise-record 23 shots
from three-point range on the way to scoring 130 points. In that game,
Memphis also matched its season high of 19 offensive rebounds and 26
second-chance points.
the ball during the game against the Toronto Raptors. Photo by Joe
Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images.
Five different players made at least three shots from beyond the arc, and
six players recorded at least three assists on a night when the Grizzlies
finished with 34 of them. And for two straight games, Memphis produced a
70-point outburst in the first half to set the tone.
Carrying those tendencies and that rhythm to California will be essential,
with the Grizzlies now down to nine available players in the midst of eight
games over a span of 13 days.
“We have a very unselfish group,” said point guard and
All-Star
candidate Ja Morant. “We pass up a good shot for a great
shot. We were able to get back to it and share the ball. But it’s also
learning from the film, the extra passes we had open in previous games, we
made them (Wednesday) and guys knocked down shots.”
We (haven’t) put all 48 minutes together yet, but that’s what we’re
working towards every day until eventually we’re a 48-minute team. But
we’re headed in the right direction.
Morant’s playmaking wizardry landed him on the
NBA cover page of ESPN’s website Friday morning, with esteemed analyst Zach Lowe featuring the Grizzlies’
catalyst in his weekly column. Even in victory, Morant’s focus
remained on digging himself out of a relative shooting slump. Moments after
the game against Charlotte, Morant returned to the FedExForum court, removed
his shirt and began putting up extra shots in a workout with trainers and
assistants.
That level of accountability and leadership serves the Grizzlies well as
they push forward in the face of adversity. They’ve posted a .500 record in
a stretch defined by injury recoveries, COVID-19 safety protocols and one of
the NBA’s five-toughest schedules to open the season.
“We’re just trying to make that stride,” said veteran forward
Kyle Anderson, who has already set his single-game and
single-season highs for made three-pointers just 20 games into the schedule.
“We (haven’t) put all 48 minutes together yet, but that’s what we’re working
towards every day until eventually we’re a 48-minute team. But we’re headed
in the right direction.”
Things could have easily fallen apart as the Grizzlies endured such early
season trauma, especially for a team that still hasn’t quite yet put all of
its key pieces together.
But they’ve remained strong enough to break even.
Through 20 games, that’s an accomplishment in itself during a season like
this.
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Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Michael Wallace are solely his own and
do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball
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sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access
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