Joe Murphy/NBAE
Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Grizzlies gained their first road victory of the season, downing the San Antonio Spurs 113–109, Monday night. The Grizzlies’ win came after back-to-back losses against the Orlando Magic, and division rivals, the Dallas Mavericks.
Jaren Jackson, Jr. led the Grizzlies with 24 points (a season high), six rebounds, and five assists. Jackson has bounced back after he failed to score in the Grizzlies’ home victory over the Timberwolves last week. In the last two games, Jackson has scored 23 and 24 points, respectively.
Jackson tied his career-high by knocking down four three-pointers. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins was pleased with his second-year forward’s performance. “He was impacting the game on both ends of the floor,” Jenkins said. Jenkins said Jackson’s presence on the floor and not in foul trouble is a tremendous gain for the team. “Obviously, not being in foul trouble helped him produce on the offensive end, just being on the floor.”
He continued, “Defensively, just playing solid defense. Contesting shots at the rim, especially a lot of contested jumpers, you know we’ll roll with him because I think he’s been working hard over the last couple weeks. Especially this last week, just being more disciplined defensively and continuing to be active and disciplined at the same time. Then offensively, rim running, getting those deep seals. If it’s not there, then just facilitating, hitting four threes tonight, just playing within the offense. It’s a heck of a job by him and a heck of a job by our team tonight.”
Ja Morant was complimentary of his teammate’s play against the Spurs. He said, “He [Jackson] is getting comfortable. His confidence is back. You can tell he is playing with that ‘bop’, not thinking about it too much. And we just tell him to hoop, because we need it.”
After the game, Jackson admitted he was in a funk and his conversations with Jenkins had helped him. Jackson said, “We have a lot of conversations. We talk at practice every day. It wasn’t anything specific. I definitely expressed to him that I was in a funk and we just talked about it.” Jackson went on to say, “It’s not like something you just magically change. I just expressed it to him. He expressed to me, ‘You just have to keep focusing on the things that are important’ — coming in, your work habits, and working hard every day, and I agree with him.”
Notes: Dillon Brooks chipped in 21 points off of 8-of-17 from the field. Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds, along with two blocks. Brandon Clarke continued to shine, with 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench. He went 6-of-7 from the field.
Lamarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 19 points while Rudy Gay added 18 points and eight rebounds as a reserve.
The Grizzlies finished the game 44-of-87 from the field (50.6 percent) and 11-of-28 from beyond the arc (39.3 percent).
Larry Kuzniewski
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Memphis finally played well in the third quarter. For the first time this season, the Grizzlies outscored an opponent in the third period, 34–26.
Grizzlies head coach, Taylor Jenkins used his first challenge of the season. Coaches are allowed one challenge per game, this season. With 9.4 seconds left, Jackson was called for a foul on Spurs guard Derrick White as he drove towards the basket. On review, it was revealed that Jackson didn’t touch him and the call was overturned.
Up Next
The Grizzlies will travel to Charlotte to take on the Hornets on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. CT.