MEMPHIS – From the outside looking in, Joe Mazzulla and Brian Keefe don’t appear to have much in common aside from their chosen profession.
Mazzulla coaches the NBA defending champion Boston Celtics, one of the more consistently dominant teams in the league in recent seasons.
Keefe is in his first full season coaching the rebuilding Washington Wizards, currently saddled with the most losses in the NBA and on pace for one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
Although the Celtics and Wizards are heading in drastically opposite directions, Mazzulla and Keefe have a shared perspective on another team that recently crossed their respective paths. Both coaches fell victim to a Grizzlies team they see rapidly developing into one of the most dynamically dangerous squads in the NBA after having won nine of their last 10 games.
“I’m glad we saw that, and I think that’s going to be good for us,” Mazzulla acknowledged of a bold defensive strategy the Grizzlies executed in last weekend’s breakthrough win at Boston.
A night later, playing the second end of a back-to-back set in what could have been a letdown for lesser-focused teams, the Grizzlies routed the reeling Wizards by 28 points.
“That’s one of their strengths,” Keefe admitted of a swarming Memphis defense that smothered the Wizards from the outset. “They turn people over by using their athleticism. They threw off the rhythm of our team, for sure.”
The Grizzlies are making strides, and the league is taking notice.
The hope now is that a weeklong break as the NBA shifts focus to the in-season tournament won’t disrupt Memphis’ momentum after sweeping the weekend trip to Boston and Washington.
Failing to qualify for the NBA Cup tournament could be a benefit on multiple fronts for the Grizzlies (17-8). With their next game not until Friday, they get extended time to rest, reset and recover from some minor or lingering injuries before returning to action.
When they do get back on the court at FedExForum, they certainly shouldn’t lack for motivation when facing Nets (10-14), who delivered two stunning losses to the Grizzlies this season. Those setbacks came during an erratic, 6-4 start as Memphis toiled through wildly inconsistent efforts in adapting to a new offense. They also dealt with defensive lapses and several rotation tweaks.
If those first 10 games were about sorting through initial kinks and settling into the season, these past 10 have solidified the Grizzlies among the league’s top contenders. The lone loss in that span came Dec. 3 at Dallas, where Memphis squandered a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of a game in which the Mavericks held a 44-14 edge in free-throw attempts.
Over the course of six days last week, the Grizzlies showed dominant stretches in what amounted to a pair of measuring-stick games against teams from last season’s NBA Finals.
They largely controlled the game in Dallas before the late-game foul disparity and sluggish offense stalled them down the stretch. But by the time the Grizzlies got to Boston, they made sure those issues wouldn’t resurface. When the Celtics rallied to take a lead in the fourth quarter, Memphis answered with clutch defensive stops and key baskets from Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant and Desmond Bane to end the franchise’s 10-game losing streak in Boston.
The Grizzlies outscored the Celtics 64-40 in the paint and by a 22-4 margin in transition to secure the 127-121 victory. Mazzulla saw a Grizzlies team clicking on both ends. Memphis used a creative strategy to sag off Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, which freed up Jackson to roam the paint and help deter All-NBA standouts Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“If you don’t defend them in transition, it’s going to be extremely difficult to beat them,” Mazzulla assessed. “They’re a good team, well coached and have great players. You have to control what you can control, don’t turn the ball over and get back on defense so you can withstand when (their) talent takes over.”
That’s a lofty testimonial coming off some of the Grizzlies’ biggest tests of the season. Their high-end production over the weekend positioned the Grizzlies more prominently among the NBA’s most prolific and dominant teams.
The season-high 76 points scored by reserves Sunday in Washington pushed the Grizzlies past Golden State as the NBA’s highest-scoring bench unit, now contributing 48.6 points per game.
Memphis also entered the week first in scoring (122.1), points in the paint (58.9) and blocks (7.0), second in assists (30.3), third in rebounding (47.6) and fourth in both field-goal percentage (48.9%) and fastbreak points (17.8).
“We are making progress and developing right now, and I’m definitely excited where this group has trended the past couple weeks,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins evaluated. “Are we going to maintain our pace? We’ve been committed to relying on our depth. Defensively, we’ve had progress in our pick-and-roll coverages and our one-on-one defense has improved. But it’s all about consistency. That’s the thing we’ve talked with the team about over this stretch.”
The results don’t get much more consistent than a 9-1 mark over 10 games.
This break comes at a good time. It’s an opportunity to take inventory of where the Grizzlies stand, which is currently second in the Western Conference. It’s also a chance to measure how much more is required to take the next step.
“We’ve got to be proud of that,” Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama said of the improvement. “Use this time off and then get back to work. We have two games in the next eight days, which we don’t normally get. So, use these practice days to our advantage, and kind of crack down on things we need to get better at.”
These surging Grizzlies know there’s still room to improve.
From top to bottom, others throughout the league recognize that progress and realize their potential, too.