In the last game of the season at FedExForum, the Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 126-111.
The Nuggets held the Grizzlies to just two points through the first five minutes of the third period and broke the game open to take a 19-point lead going into the final frame.
No one expected the Grizzlies to wen the game with 13 injured players and Denver starting some future Hall of Famers. The Nuggets swept the season series, 4-0.
Denver finished the regular season with a 57-25 record and clinched the No. 2 seed in the NBA Playoffs. The Grizzlies were 27-55 overall and 9-32 at home.
The Grizzlies set NBA season records by using 33 different players and 51 different starting lineups.
GG Jackson II led the Grizzlies with a career-high 44 points and 12 rebounds to secure his second double-double of the season. At 19 years old, Jackson II became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 44 points in a game. The rookie’s performance was a welcome relief from a season plagued by injuries.
“I think what he’s been doing on the court is an absolute reflection of what he’s been doing off the court,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins on the rookie’s development. “GG has been unbelievable since day one when he came in as a wide-eyed rookie, which he still is — a wide-eyed rookie. But coming in, trying to figure out his routine, what are the habits he’s got to develop to be a consistent pro. I think his work ethic has been phenomenal every single day. I’ve said it all throughout the season, how he learns within the game, tries to not repeat the same mistake. He’s got this care factor.”
“There will be times where I don’t have to be ball-dominant, and I can just knock down shots and stuff,” Jackson, II said. “Then, there’s other times when I catch fire that I can still affect the game defensively. This is going to be huge for me to serve. We’ve been working on a lot, and I started to notice, but it took the last game for me to notice. All of our lifts are lower body based, and, in my mind, I was like, ‘They’re trying to build the foundation before they build on top.’”
“I’m really comfortable in a sense, with Coach [Jenkins] trusting me and my teammates having my back,” said the South Carolina native. “There will be times where I’m frustrated and I’m like, ‘You should’ve hit me on that one.’ And I come to the bench, and I don’t want to be that guy. I got a bad rap for doing that in college. Even in high school, someone told me they didn’t like me because I had that kind of attitude and stuff. So, that was huge for me to keep that toned down. That behavior doesn’t really lead to a great performance.”
Jake LaRavia added 29 points, five rebounds, and four assists in his third straight game with 25+ points. LaRavia has averaged 29.7 points per game over the last three games, including a career-high 32 points April 10 at Cleveland.
“That was my biggest goal coming back from All-Star break, after I had that little ankle injury, just playing through whatever I had, trying to play as many games as I could, trying to stay healthy,”LaRavia on his play after injury.
“I think I did a really good job of that. I ended up missing those two games, but I think for the most part, I did a good job of staying healthy and playing through. … When you talked about confidence, I think I’m a very confident player, regardless. It might be showing more because I’m in a higher role right now, but this was my goal, to get as much momentum as I could going into next season.”
Strictly for the fans
Jenkins’ closing message to the fans:
“I also just wanted to shout out our fans. They’ve been phenomenal. I know this was probably a difficult season, but the love our fans have for us, I could feel it all season long. I could feel it the last couple days. We’re going to miss them tremendously over the next couple of months. There’s nothing like coming here to work and compete at the FedExForum with our great fans. And hopefully, we’re going to put the work in behind the scenes to come out and set a great tone, come October 2024, for the next campaign. So, I want to just thank all of our fans, thank all of you all for your commitment throughout the season.”
