With little more than five minutes left on the clock, the game was tied 98-98. Ja Morant put up a wide-open three-pointer that hit off the rim twice, then out of nowhere, John Konchar went up for the putback slam to put the Grizzlies up 100-98.
This game wasn’t pretty but it sure was Jitty. That’s because Konchar, also known as Jitty, was a big reason for the Grizzlies’ 11th straight win, a 116-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night. With the win, the Grizzlies improve to 30-14 on the season and third in the Western Conference.
Konchar gave Memphis a huge lift off the bench with 15 points (6-7 FG, 3-4 3P) and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. For one night, he was “Jitty for Da City” in honor of the man himself, Zach Randolph.
Konchar was one rebound shy of matching Randolph’s franchise record for rebounds coming off the bench (18). (Montrezl Harrell of the Washington Wizards had the most rebounds by a bench player this season with 18 against the Charlotte Hornets back in November.)
The Illinois native described his rebounding knack after the game: “I don’t know, sometimes they just come to me. I don’t know how to describe that, I guess. I just know where the ball is going to go. If it’s short, or whoever is shooting it, you just have tendencies for that guy — if he’s been shooting it long, short, or whatever. You just build off that.”
He continued, “I always stay in the work room. I’ve been trying to do lower body a lot. Just trying to get stronger so that I can box out and get the rebound instead of trying to jump over somebody. Just try to stay in the weight room year round.”
Grizzlies acting head coach Darko Rajakovic said of Konchar: “He’s just fearless, he’s willing to go after every rebound. He’s always in a good spot and has been working a lot with his body. Athletically, he’s been improving over the course of the year.”
“He’s just always in the right spot — it’s crazy,” Desmond Bane said of Konchar’s rebounding performance. “Both offensively and defensively, he happens to be in the right spot. He’s around the ball. Obviously, 17 rebounds, but getting deflections and being in the mix. He’s a glue guy. Someone that brings the team together. I think that he’s been huge for us since we’ve really been winning games.”
The undrafted guard out of Purdue Fort Wayne was congratulated by all of his teammates during his walk-off interview with Fox Sports Southeast sideline reporter, Rob Fischer.
“It’s awesome,” Konchar said of his teammates’ gesture. “We’re a close-knit group. It’s really fun playing with everybody. We just get along very well on and off the court. It’s a great time.”
Ja Morant was also proud of his teammate. “Man, he just does a lot on the floor for us,” Morant said. “Seventeen boards at the guard position is pretty tough to do. I looked up and saw he had 15. And then shotmaking … you really can’t leave him open. He’s knocking down shots — he does the hustle plays for us, gets all the 50/50 balls. He’s able to defend. He’s just a spark for us. Coming off the bench, he never complained. With his role, he does it at a very high level and tonight helped us get a win. With that big shot late and putbacks, it’s bigtime. He’s a special player for us who helps us get wins.”
Thursday night against the Timberwolves, Konchar was gettin’ Jitty with it and helped his team keep their winning streak alive.
Up Next
The Grizzlies are hoping to extend their winning streak to 12 games against the Dallas Mavericks Friday night. In November, the Mavericks ended the Grizzlies’ 5-game winning streak when Morant was sidelined with a knee injury. Bally Sports Southeast and ESPN will broadcast the game live beginning at 9 p.m. CT.
