MEMPHIS – The Grizzlies won’t have to wait long for a chance to avenge Wednesday’s loss to a nagging division opponent as they try to reverse their recent fortunes at FedExForum.
Here are two takeaways from the 117-104 setback in Houston and a look ahead to Friday, when Dillon Brooks and the Rockets travel to Memphis to complete this week’s two-game set.
MORANT’S MOMENT ARRIVES
The biggest development from Friday’s matchup will take place hours before tipoff.
Although he remains two games away from making his season debut on the court, Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant on Friday will have his first chance to publicly address his comeback.
The Grizzlies have scheduled a press conference for Morant after Friday morning’s shootaround, where the franchise catalyst will meet with the media for the first time since he was handed last summer’s 25-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league.
Morant is eligible to return from suspension for Tuesday’s game against New Orleans. The Grizzlies face the Rockets on Friday before starting next week’s two-game trip in Oklahoma City to play the Thunder on Monday. That back-to-back set wraps up a day later against the Pelicans.
Throughout the suspension, Morant has been able to practice and travel with the team since training camp opened in October. In recent weeks, Morant has intensified his workouts and involvement as the Grizzlies reintegrate the two-time NBA All-Star into game preparations.
“I’m proud of him, what he’s been able to do,” Grizzlies teammate and veteran point guard Derrick Rose said of Morant. “The work he’s put in and his mindset have been straight. He’s been the first one in here, he’s been staying late. He’s been helping younger guys, being a leader and a positive voice throughout this (process).”
Rose, a former league MVP, and Marcus Smart, who was NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, were two key veterans brought in this season to help mature the Grizzlies’ roster. The hope was that the experience and leadership Rose and Smart share would also offer a guide to Morant as he grows into one of the league’s biggest superstars.
Morant on Friday will likely address some issues he’s faced on and off the court as well as how he plans to help the Grizzlies recover from an injury-plagued, 6-17 start to the season. The Grizzlies have largely struggled at home, where they enter Friday 1-10 at FedExForum. Morant makes his home debut next Thursday when the Indiana Pacers visit Memphis.
The second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Morant was voted Rookie of the Year and was then named the league’s Most Improved Player after his third season.
Over the past two seasons, Morant averaged 26.7 points, 7.4 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals as the Grizzlies posted the second-best record in the Western Conference each of the last two years. He is in the first year of a five-year, $194 contract extension with the Grizzlies.
“He has a lot coming at him and has had to process and reflect on the kind of player and person he can be,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said of Morant’s path back from suspension. “He and I talk all the time – not just about basketball, but about life, about being fathers, responsibilities. He has an opportunity to grow from this, and he’s already showing some of that growth.”
JACKSON’S PRODUCTIVE ZONE
The ultimate results haven’t been ideal for Jaren Jackson Jr., but the rhythm the Grizzlies’ power forward has been in recently has led to arguably the most productive stretch of his career.
Jackson is coming off consecutive outings of scoring at least 40 points for the first time since he entered the league as the fourth overall pick in 2018. That included a career-high 44-point effort Wednesday in Houston, which followed Monday’s 41-point outburst against Dallas.
Both games resulted in losses for the Grizzlies, who have been severely shorthanded much of the season as Jackson and leading scorer Desmond Bane have shouldered the burden on offense. In six December games, Jackson is shooting 53.4-percent from the field overall and 44.4-percent on 3-pointers while averaging 28.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals.
Jackson said he’s been intentional about establishing himself early and more consistently.
“I’m just making sure my balance is good, not changing up the recipe too much and making it simple,” Jackson said of his recent uptick in production. “It’s all angles. That’s what I’m working on. It’s that and moving the ball to my teammates when I get (double-teamed). Just figuring out how to score and be effective in different ways.”
DILLON’S RETURN GAME
Rockets swingman Dillon Brooks will face his former team in Memphis for the first time since he departed the Grizzlies in free agency last summer.
Brooks spent his first six NBA seasons in Memphis after he was selected with the 45th pick in the second round of the 2017 draft. He was the premiere perimeter defender on teams that made three consecutive trips to the playoffs, and Brooks was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Team after his final season in Memphis entering free agency.
His Rockets have won both previous matchups with the Grizzlies by double figures, with a 111-91 victory in their Nov. 22 meeting in Houston prior to Wednesday’s 13-point win. But Memphis has kept Brooks largely in check. He fouled out Wednesday and has averaged 12 points on 36.3-percent shooting from the field through the first two outings of the four-game season series.