Sunday afternoon the Memphis Grizzlies faced off against the Boston Celtics, and predictably it did not go well for them. With a final score of 131-91, the Grizzlies never led for any part of the game.
Boston outplayed Memphis in every quantifiable metric. In the Grizzlies’ defense, they fielded just eight players against the Celtics, only one of whom can be considered an NBA-caliber player, in their 30th starting lineup of the season.
Memphis getting 40-pieced by Boston on Jesus’s day is par for the course this year. It doesn’t make it any more enjoyable to watch, but it should surprise no one who has paid attention to the Grizzlies this season.
But if you ever wondered what it would look like if the Memphis Hustle faced off against the current best NBA team, yesterday’s game was it.
And if you didn’t recognize many of the faces in Grizzlies uniforms, it’s because four of them are recent acquisitions: Scotty Pippen Jr was signed to a two-way contract on January 16, Matthew Hurt was signed to a 10-day contract on January 29, and Tosan Evbuomwan and Trey Jemison were signed to 10-day contracts on January 30.
It is fitting that the best moment of this trip to T.D. Garden happened when former Celtic Marcus Smart was honored by the franchise on his first return to Boston. Smart was acquired by the Grizzlies last summer after having spent nine seasons with the Celtics, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2022.
By The Numbers:
In addition to leading the game from wire-to-wire and beating the Grizzlies by 40, Boston beat Memphis in paint points (56 to 38), second-chance points (18 to 9), fast break points (21-7), and they converted 20 Grizzlies turnovers into 26 points.
The Celtics outshot the Grizzlies from the free-throw line (88.9% to 83.3%) and the three-point line (37.3% to 28.9%) and outrebounded them 57 to 46.
Scotty Pippen Jr finished the night with a team-high 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 6 of 11 overall and 2 of 2 from three-point range.
G.G. Jackson put up 18 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals while shooting an abysmal 2 of 10 from beyond the arc and 8 of 24 overall.
David Roddy closed out with 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Jacob Gilyard added 13 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.
Luke Kennard finished with 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies have one more stop on this two-game road trip. On Tuesday night they will at the World’s Most Famous Arena to face off against the New York Knicks. Tip-off is at 6:30 PM CST.
