Former Grizzlies' Head Coach Taylor Jenkins. (Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images.)
Shortly before noon on Friday, the Grizzlies announced that they were firing head coach Taylor Jenkins and assistant coaches Noah LaRoche and Patrick St. Andrews.
It comes on the heels of Thursday night’s brutal 125-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here is the official release:
With only nine games left in the regular season, while your team is fighting for its life to stay out of the play-in tournament, it would not seem to be the optimal time to make a move such as firing your head coach, but here we are.
No interim coach has been officially named, but current Grizzlies’ lead assistant coach Tuomas Iisalo is the most likely choice.
Fans and critics of the team have called for Jenkins’ ouster at various points this season, and while this news might be unexpected for some, it really doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
The team has been in a noticeable slump since the all-star break, as evidenced by its 8-11 record. Jenkins appears to have lost the locker room’s confidence, and once the players lose faith in a coach, the relationship is nearly impossible to recover.
Jenkins was hired as part of the guard-change during the 2019 offseason, when longtime general manager Chris Wallace was replaced with Zach Kleiman. It was otherwise known as the end of the Grit and Grind era — marked by the trades of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, the last two remaining members of the Core Four that lifted the team to relevance.
Jenkins’ tenure has been mostly positive, but it’s been bolstered by the arrival of star-caliber talent and the drafting and development of solid, dependable role players — areas that are largely outside his control.
Would a Taylor Jenkins-coached team without the Grizzlies’ big three of Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant, and Desmond Bane be as successful, or has his ability been masked by Kleiman’s prowess in drafting players?
Spoiler alert: probably not.
Keeping a head coach who appears to have reached his ceiling would hinder the team now and in the long run. Given all the injuries they have been dealing with, the Grizzlies were never going to win the championship this year. So, while the timing is inconvenient, making such a major personnel change so close to the playoffs won’t necessarily prevent the team from hanging a championship banner in the rafters of FedExForum in the future.
Sir Meatball and Milkshake at the most recent Dogchella (Photo: Mary Lauren Stewart)
Memphis dogfluencer Sir Meatball is turning 7, and all (including leashed pups) are invited to his birthday party this Saturday at Grind City Brewing Co. The theme: Dogchella.
“It’s a play on Coachella,” says bulldog Meatball’s mom Mary Lauren Stewart. Saturday’s event will be their third, after last year’s hiatus while their family got ready for their new addition: a baby.
Fortunately, Meatball hasn’t had too much trouble sharing the attention with his new human brother Rush, nor has his bulldog brother Lord Milkshake. “Milkshake and the baby have really bonded,” Stewart says. “But they both are really great with kids.”
Milkshake (left) and Sir Meatball (right) are ready to party. (Photo: Mary Lauren Stewart)
Both Meatball and Milkshake will be in attendance for Dogchella, the two having gained Instagram fame for a post of them in costume. “Milkshake’s the sidekick, and I think that’s where he likes to be,” Stewart says. “Meatball is always the one, when we’re out on a patio, who’s trying to wander up to people to get pets and scratches. He loves lying in the middle of a walkway so people have to acknowledge him. And Milkshake is very much a mama’s boy.”
For Saturday, Meatball, ever the star, will judge a dog costume contest that will kick off at 4 p.m. “He’ll whisper into one of the Grind City’s employee’s ears who the winner is.”
The day will also have birthday treats for the pups (while supplies last), adoptable dogs, $5 beers, local vendors (including a dog caricature artist!), and a food truck. Admission is free, and the party will happen rain or shine.
Dogchella, Grind City Brewing Company, Saturday, March 29, noon-6 p.m.
Two of my favorite Disney remakes include 1998’s Parent Trap and 2004’s Freaky Friday, both starring Lindsay Lohan. I’m definitely showing my age here when I say I was shocked to even know they were remakes — in fact, I had no interest in watching the originals, because I was perfectly fine with the impression their remakes left on me. And while this may be controversial, I think that’s a mark of a good remake. Sometimes the source material may conceptually be timeless, and a few tweaks can bring the story to life for a new generation. But remakes can be tricky, especially when the legacy of the film is revered in popular culture – especially under the Disney moniker.
It’s no question that Disney can make good films, both animated and live action. Lately though, that’s not been the case. It seems as if recently Disney has tried to prove to us that they know how CGI works and they have to demonstrate this by using motion capture to give the “live acton” treatment to every animated feature they have in their catalog, regardless of whether anyone asked for it.
The latest film to become the subject of this experiment is Snow White. Directed by 500 Days of Summer’s Marc Webb, it’s a remake of the 1937 animated film Snow White and The Seven Dwarves, Disney’s first full-length animated feature which cemented itself in pop culture with its timeless iconography.
The Dwarves (Courtesy Disney)
Aside from taking on a property with such a heavy legacy, the film had the odds stacked against it before it even hit theaters. The Rachel Zegler hate-train seems to have turned into a bandwagon (for reasons I’m still not sure of, but are at least partially the result of racism) and some people just don’t like Gal Gadot. Plus, we’re all tired of remakes that we didn’t ask for.
I’ve never seen the original, so there’s no sense of nostalgia for me. The fact that this was my first impression of the story even excited me, as I wasn’t blinded by bias for a classic. I’m all for widening representation, especially for Disney princesses, and I’m glad Zegler is able to be that for a new generation of young people. I just wish the film didn’t seem like an extended interaction with Disneyland cast members.
Snow White (Zegler), a princess whose upbringing and influence on her community is marked by her kindness, falls from the public eye when her mother dies and her father remarries. Her father goes out on a quest to save the kingdom from evil threats and does not return, leaving the Evil Queen (Gadot) to rule over the people. Under her reign, Snow White becomes a scullery maid.
Obsessed with vanity, the Evil Queen asks her magic mirror daily “Who is the fairest one of all?” Usually, the mirror’s response is to her liking. But one day the mirror reveals that Snow White is now the fairest, which the queen takes a threat to her position. Enraged, she orders the Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to lure Snow White to the forest and kill her, bringing back her heart as proof.
While in the forest, the Huntsman is touched by Snow White’s compassion and warns her of the queen’s plans. As she flees, she finds a cottage where she rests until she is awakened by the home’s inhabitants, the seven dwarves.
Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. (Courtesy Disney)
Zegler’s acting is fine; nothing to write too strongly for or against. She definitely has the voice of a Disney Princess, yet the songs themselves aren’t memorable enough for a second listen. Gadot’s performance reminded me of something you’d see in a movie-within-a-movie, where we’re supposed to know she’s acting badly, like in Singing in the Rain when Jean Hagen massacres The Dueling Cavalier.
There was a lot of time spent showing the mines where the very scary CGI dwarves worked which could have been better spent crafting more seamless story — how did Snow White go from a maids dress to her iconic princess garb? We don’t know!
I could very well still be spoiled by the musical phenomenon known as Wicked, but I just don’t think Disney knew what they wanted to do with this film. This could’ve been a way for them to reintroduce a beloved classic for younger audiences, but I doubt the uncanny dwarves will be invited into anyone’s house via rewatch.
Bacarra Maudlin, former Interim CEO of MATA (Photo Credit: Memphis Area Transit Authority)
Bacarra Mauldin, former interim CEO of the Memphis Area Transit Authority, has been fired by the agency. The decision was made by acting CEO of John Lewis and backed by MATA’s board of commissioners.
“This action follows an internal investigation which concluded that Ms. Mauldin violated MATA’s Procurement and Travel Policy, and did not take sufficient steps to ensure compliance among her direct reports,” a statement from the agency said. “These findings represent a serious breach of the standards and expectations we uphold for all MATA leadership and staff.”
Earlier this month, officials revealed that a “preliminary review of FY24 General Administrative expenses,” which showed that out of $9.9 million, $848,000 was spent in discretionary spending. This included $603,000 in sponsorship of the Memphis Grizzlies and $144,000 in “other AMEX purchases.”
Officials said this did not include charges for travel and meetings.
“We asked for detailed statements of that, had to do some digging with American Express — the agency at the time did not have itemized monthly bills, which was not a best practice to say the least,” Lewis said. “After we received itemized statements going back the last couple of years, we found within those purchases, seemingly non-business-related purchases.”
Lewis said these included $5,000 in payments via PayPal and Venmo, $7,000 in purchases at BestBuy, $10,000 in party equipment rental, $30,000 in customizable purchases, and $1,200 in Montblanc purchases to name a few.
He added that they brought this to the attention of the city auditor, and as a result the state comptroller has been notified. Lewis and his team has been advised to seek outside counsel for a more thorough investigation.
At the time, officials said “the former leadership that had possession of the AMEX card has been placed on administrative leave.”
“While personnel matters are typically confidential, we acknowledge the public interest in this situation, given the leadership role involved,” MATA said in a statement. “ Our focus moving forward is to ensure stability, restore trust, and continue providing safe, reliable, and equitable transit services for the people of Memphis.”
Mauldin was named interim CEO following the retirement of former CEO Gary Rosenfeld in February 2024.
Gov. Bill Lee and his staff have remained mostly silent in recent weeks regarding questions about the state legislature's current special session. Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is all-in on dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and is leaving the door open to use federal funds to support his new school voucher program.
Last week, hours before President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing his recently-appointed Education Secretary to begin the dissolution of the federal DOE, Lee reissued his support of Trump’s plan, telling reporters the state would be better off without the federal oversight of education.
“I am one who believes that the federal Department of Education is largely a bureaucratic problem for states,” Lee said, calling the federal government “too big, too cumbersome and too bureaucratic.”
The governor, who was set to attend the executive order signing, has been supportive of Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education since at least November, when he said he “hopes it looks something like block-granting the dollars to states,” comparing the idea to a Medicaid block grant waiver that Trump approved in his first term, allowing Tennessee more discretion in spending money intended for Medicaid recipients.
In an op-ed published Wednesday, Lee called the DOE an “$80 billion failure,” and said that states were better off managing federal education funding, as had been the case prior to the DOE’s formation in 1979.
When he initially endorsed Trump’s plan, Lee declined to comment on whether he would use the funds to benefit his private school voucher program, which later passed in a January special session, partly urged by Trump to address immigration. For each of the last three years, including 2025 projections, the DOE has reportedly provided Tennessee between $3.36-3.66 billion.
On Thursday, with the voucher bill signed into law and the end of the DOE in sight, Lee suggested that the legislature could conceptually tap into the DOE money for vouchers.
“The funding from the federal government shouldn’t impact that strategy,” Lee said. “It should just continue to give us the resources necessary to fund the education for all the children of the state, both public and private, through education freedom scholarships or through traditional funding to our public schools.”
Lee noted that he expects to see a “ramp up” in the voucher program, but added that “the law, as it stands today in Tennessee, is how I view that it will be going forward, until the Legislature makes a decision to change.”
Educators and parents across the country have expressed concern that a lack of federal oversight could prevent some students, like those with disabilities or special needs, from receiving adequate and fair education.
“If successful, Trump’s continued actions will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement, calling supporters “anti-public education.”
Lee dismissed those concerns, arguing that the state is better equipped to manage those students than the federal government, repeating a common refrain that the states know best how to handle education.
“I don’t have one bit of concern about a lack of services or a lack of educational opportunities for children when the federal Department of Education is removed,” Lee said.
Lee’s wholesale support of a Trump plan before the details have been shared echoes his alignment with Trump’s deportation policies, which Lee loudly supported and urged other Republican governors to support before Trump was in office or had shared specifics.
“I can’t speak to how I feel about that, because that’s not been decided yet,” Lee said, adding that he was broadly supportive of addressing what he described as issues caused by illegal immigration, “including how they impact our education system.
Though he lacked details, the governor said ending the DOE would benefit Tennessee because more money would be spent at the state level.
“That’s more dollars directly spent on education services for children, and not on jobs in D.C.,” Lee said.
Asked if the state would have to replicate any of the administrative roles being axed in the federal department of education — or the “bureaucracy” described by Lee — the governor was unsure.
“We have no idea what’s coming,” Lee said. “We’ll know a lot more, probably after today, and then we’ll begin to plan to work with the federal government on being a good partner.”
This week on the Memphis Flyer Podcast, we have a special guest. John Doyle of the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum joins Alex Greene to talk about moving the museum and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame to Beale Street.
State lawmakers want to take oversight of possible discrimination in federal funding from the Tennessee Human Rights Commission (THRC) and give it to the Tennessee Attorney General.
State agencies have to follow federal rules when they get federal money. One of those rules — Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — disallows discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin.
In 2002, then-Governor Don Sundquist, a Republican, created the Title VI Complain Commission. In 2009, the THRC was given the authority to verify that state government entities comply with the requirements of Title VI.
But new legislation would strip this oversight and enforcement from the state group and would give that power to Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti’s office.
The bill is sponsored by state Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) and Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville). It would transfer from the THRC to the AG “the responsibility of identifying state laws, rules, programs, services, and budgetary priorities that conflict with the components, guidelines, and objectives of a comprehensive state policy established by the commission to ensure compliance with Title VI requirements.”
A review of the bill was slated for the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday afternoon. No further details of the legislation — including the motivation for it — have been heard so far. However, the bill passed on partisan lines in a House subcommittee last week. Only two members, Rep. Larry Miller (D-Memphis) and Rep. Jesse Chism (D-Memphis), voted against the bill.
THRC is an independent and neutral state agency that takes and investigates complaints of alleged discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. It also monitors Title VI compliance for state agencies and entities getting federal money. It is the primary state agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the state of Tennessee.
“The Commission plays a key role in ensuring that the citizens of Tennessee are aware of their civil rights, their responsibilities under the laws that THRC enforces, and have a viable means for justice when their rights are violated,” the group said in its latest annual report.
Last year, the group received 1,097 inquiries of alleged Title VI discrimination. Of those, 332 complaints were accepted. Of those, 162 cases were closed. Settlements and mediations resulted in $4,000 to be awarded to complainants.
Most of those complaints were on alleged discrimination of race, retaliation, sex, and disability.
Credit: Tennessee Human Rights Commission
THRC found that all of the 49 state agencies reporting to it were in compliance of Title VI requirements.
Failure to meet Title VI requirements could result in loss of federal money. Last year, Tennessee got $31 billion in federal funds. TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, got the largest share at $19.2 billion.
The THRC also offers technical assistance to the state’s many agencies, including the University of Memphis. Last year, the group said it fielded 237 requests for such help.
Kelly English has added a new business to his roster of eating establishments, which include Restaurant Iris and Second Line.
Meet “Rocket Greens & Things.”
Think “salad food truck.”
I asked English a few questions about this new endeavor.
What made you decide to open a salad food truck?
“We saw an opportunity to put our company and our employees in a better position filling what we found to be a voice in Midtown. There are plenty of places to get a salad, but no spots that center around salads.
We named the truck “Rocket Greens & Things” because we all love arugula, which means ‘rocket.’ The salads will come out fast like a rocket.”
What’s on the menu? Is this an ever changing menu or will it stay the same? Anything other than salads on the truck?
“We have a bunch of different signature salads and a build-your-own option. We plan to add a lot more in the coming weeks. Including non-salad items. That is where the ‘& things’ comes in. Those are the ‘things,’ but we are starting with salads because that will always be our core.
“Our guests will dictate by what they buy with what stays and what evolves. But we expect to have a good solid handful of mainstays with lots of seasonal options.”
What makes these salads special? How will they stand apart from other salads?
“They are special because we spend days talking about just salads. And we have personal nods to people and places that mean things to us on the menu.
What color is the truck?
“Our colors are green and orangey red.”
Where will the food truck be located?
“We are located at the corner of Cooper and Linden behind CVS and across Cooper from Fresh Market.”
Will this be in operation daily?
“We are open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and lunch on Friday and Saturday and open into the afternoon but not for dinner on Saturday.”
Is there a Website people where people can find menu items and where the truck will be?
“The truck won’t move, so that is easy. Our menu will be on Instagram at @rocketgreens.”
Who is doing the salad preparation? Are you going to ever be working on the food truck?
“Derk Metzler will oversee it along with the Swamp Bar and Second Line. Derk is such an important part of our entire company. And I feel so lucky he is on our team. I worked there both days this weekend and am scheduled there during lunch this Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. So, yes. Sometimes.”
Is this the first food truck you’ve ever done?
“This is the first food truck in this restaurant group (Iris Restaurant Group), yes.”
Terry Manning at an exhibit of his photography in Boston (Photo: Josh Reynolds)
Terry Manning, the pioneering producer, musician, and photographer who was the first staff engineer at Ardent Studios and worked with many of their greatest artists, from Big Star to Led Zeppelin to ZZ Top and beyond, died yesterday, March 25th. Musician Robert Johnson, a friend of both Manning and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, informed the Memphis Flyer that Gibbons had shared news from Manning’s wife that Manning suffered a sudden, fatal fall in the early hours of the morning at his home in El Paso, Texas. An official cause of death has not been made public at this time. He was 77.
This comes only two months after Manning released his latest album, Red and Black, the latest in a series of strong efforts from a very active career in music. He was also physically active all his life, according to the bio on his website, captaining the soccer team at then-Memphis State University in his youth, and running marathons and coaching racquetball later in life. His passing has come as a shock to his friends and colleagues.
Johnson, who worked closely with Manning by way of his music career and continued to be in touch in recent years, says, “He was the epitome of health. I remember him being a vegetarian early on, and he never smoked and never drank. He never partied. He always just worked.”
And work he did, chalking up nearly 200 credits as a producer and even more as an engineer since the 1960s. Over more than half a century, he worked with Booker T. & the MG’s, Shakira, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, the Tragically Hip, Johnny Winter, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jason and the Scorchers, the Staple Singers, Molly Hatchet, George Thorogood, Al Green, Widespread Panic, Shania Twain, Joe Cocker, Joe Walsh, Lenny Kravitz, and many others.
After moving to Memphis from Texas, he attended Memphis State and played keyboards for the band Lawson & Four More. That was when Johnson first met him, and the two soon became close. When I spoke to Manning in 2018, he said of Johnson, “We’re good friends. I worked with Robert quite a bit. Quite a character. Someone I just love dearly.”
“The first time we really locked horns,” Johnson recalls, “was at the Battle of the Bands at the T. Walker Lewis Community Center. One band would be under one basketball net, and the other band would be under the other. And so you’d play a set, and then all the kids would just move back and forth. At the end of the night, they’d all put their ticket into the hat and vote. Every time, we’d always lose to Terry Manning’s band. Lawson & Four More were a good band, and they had the world record of winning the Battle of the Bands at that little place. All their fan base was in that neighborhood.”
Even then, Manning was prone to experimenting to take the music further. “He had this little trick with the organ. It was a Doric, a German off-beat organ. And he would take Mercury dimes, these really thin 10 cent pieces, and make a chord, and he would stick the dimes between the keys, and they would just hold down this chord. His amp would have all this distortion, and he would take his hands and move and spin around. I mean, it was almost like seeing Jimi Hendrix playing the organ. It was just totally incredible. You thought the organ was playing itself.”
Before long, Manning began working as the first staff engineer at the fledgling Ardent Studios, engineering sessions for Stax Records when their main studios were overbooked, and both working the board and playing when the studio supported local rock bands, including Chris Bell’s Icewater and Rock City, which went on to become Big Star after Alex Chilton joined them. Manning was also deeply involved in Chilton’s solo recordings just before the Big Star era, as the singer-songwriter sought to define his sound after leaving the Box Tops, ultimately released on the retrospective 1970 album. And Manning masterminded his own solo psychedelic album, Home Sweet Home, at the time — now widely celebrated.
Terry Manning in the early days of Ardent Studios (Photo: Chris King)
Earlier, while playing with Lawson & Four More, Manning befriended Jimmy Page as he was touring with the Yardbirds, leading Page to work with Manning years later during the mixing of Led Zeppelin III, as detailed in this Memphis Magazine story.
Perhaps his greatest success was with the band ZZ Top, who recorded several albums at Ardent. “When ZZ Top started making ‘Gimme All Your Lovin” and those other Top 10 songs,” Johnson says, “those sounds were all Terry on the Oberheim keyboard and drum machine, programming drums and keys. He was MIDI-ing up the bass and coming up with those drum turnarounds. Of course, Billy Gibbons is a good drummer and probably did some of that programming down in in Texas, but then Terry came in and totally took it to the next level.”
Manning later moved to London and worked at Abbey Road Studios, then moved to the Bahamas as Chris Blackwell’s partner at Compass Point Studios, where he worked for over 20 years.
Terry Manning (right) at Ardent Studios with James Taylor and Peter Asher (Photo: Courtesy Terry Manning)
In more recent years, Manning leaned into making his own music again, releasing the albums West Texas Skyline: A Tribute to Bobby Fuller (2013), Heaven Knows (2015), Planets (2016), and Playin’ in Elvis’ House (2019), recorded live in the former home of Elvis Presley on Audubon Drive.
He was also a highly respected photographer, publishing two books of his work. In 2016, his work was featured in the Stax Museum of American Soul Music’s exhibit, “Scientific Evidence of Life on Earth During Two Millennia.” The exhibit showcased both Manning’s urban landscapes and his portraits of luminaries ranging from British singer Dusty Springfield to civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.
But his studio wizardry, informed by his highly musical ears, was arguably his greatest accomplishment. As Johnson notes, “I’m sure Terry learned a lot of things from [Ardent’s] John Fry, because Fry was a little older than Terry, and was more of a mechanical nerd with the tape machines and compressors and all that, but Terry soon surpassed everybody. It didn’t take long before he was probably the number one guy in town. Other engineers just didn’t have that sparkle that he had. I’ve worked with great engineers, like Glyn Johns and Bill Price, but I’ve got to tell you, my favorite engineer of all time is really Terry Manning. He taught me so much about audio electronics and all of John Fry’s techniques. And he just really opened my mind to a world of creativity that I didn’t have. He just flat out knew how to make a record, you know?”
Scotty Pippen Jr. dribbles the ball in a game against the Utah Jazz on March 26, 2025. (Photo by: Jamie Sabau/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Memphis Grizzlies ended a three-game skid by routing the Utah Jazz 140-103, Tuesday night, capping off a 4-0 season series sweep.
Despite yet another sluggish start and trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Grizzlies narrowed the deficit to 65-64 by halftime.
With a 41-17 third-quarter surge, Memphis took command of the game and improved to 44-28 for the season. The team now holds a slim half-game lead over the Lakers for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
The Grizzlies recorded 38 assists, outscored Utah 27-8 in points off turnovers, and dominated the boards 52-28, including a 17-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Additionally, Memphis had a 25-0 edge in second-chance points and outscored Utah 76-38 in the second half.
After the game, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins acknowledged Jazz’s strong start, noting that Memphis lacked physicality and resistance in the first quarter and early second quarter, allowing Utah to get easy shots. However, he expressed relief that the Grizzlies were able to “weather the storm.”
Jenkins added: “We were getting what we needed on the offensive side, even though we were missing a couple shots there. But we made a great run at the end of the second quarter, and then just our resistance and physicality on the defensive side in the third quarter was so much better.”
“That allowed us to get out — our fast break numbers were better,” Jenkins continued. “We ended up with 38 assists. We were just playing with a different level of energy, because our defense sparked us.”
Desmond Bane led Memphis in scoring with 21 points, adding six assists and four rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Jaren Jackson Jr. contributed 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while also grabbing three rebounds and blocking two shots, before exiting with an injury in the third quarter. He rejoined the team on the bench in the fourth quarter.
In a notable defensive stretch, the Grizzlies held the Jazz to just a single field goal for over seven minutes following Jackson Jr.’s exit from the game.
Scotty Pippen Jr. delivered a strong all-around effort, tallying 16 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds. Rookie Jaylen Wells had a solid performance, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds, and dishing out five assists.
The Grizzlies’ bench dominated their Jazz counterparts, outscoring them 65-39 while also controlling the glass with 29 rebounds and distributing 13 assists.
Zach Edey, Vince Williams Jr., and Jay Huff formed a potent bench trio, as all three players scored 15 points each.
The Grizzlies will conclude their five-game road trip on Thursday against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, who boast an impressive 60-12 record. OKC currently holds a 3-0 advantage in the season series against Memphis.
