Brooms out.
The Grizzlies met the Jazz for the final time this season Wednesday night and lost 111-107. Even with the loss, watching the budding bears hold their own against the top-ranked team in the league was anything but boring.
Utah won in large part thanks to a 4th quarter surge from Mike Conley, who scored 13 of his 26 points in the final frame. Conley continues to do Captain Clutch things, but this time he was wearing the opposing team’s colors.
Despite it being against a team that this Memphis team has played now three times in the past week, the final matchup was possibly the most exciting. But I think I can speak for everyone when I say thank Bob we don’t have to see the Jazz again this season.
There were some intense battles between Jonas Valanciunas and Rudy Gobert, and several epic exchanges between Ja Morant and Mike Conley.
#GrzNxtGen is in good hands
Ja Morant drilling a three in Mike Conley’s face from damn near half court felt like the passing of the proverbial torch between the former generation to the present-day star point guard. It’s the circle of life, Simba.
The circle of life – point guard edition:
Memphis was missing Grayson Allen, Justise Winslow, and Brandon Clarke which gave the opportunity for some less familiar faces like Killian Tillie and Xavier Tillman Sr. to get some playing time. Desmond Bane even found his way into the starting lineup.
Sadly the bench mob was more like the warm body squad, combining for a collective 13 points. Woof.
Last and least — I almost forgot two-way player Sean McDermott who played a very forgettable four minutes. And now I would very much like to go back to forgetting he was on the roster.
On the bright side, the Grizzlies continue to dominate in the paint, with 60 points to the Jazz’s 42, and feast on turnovers, scoring 25 points off 15 Utah turnovers.
By the Numbers:
Ja Morant led all scorers with 36 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Kyle Anderson logged in 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas closed out his 32nd double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. JV’s current streak of 15 consecutive double-doubles leads the league.
Dillon Brooks totaled 17 points and 3 steals but on a less than stellar 8 of 17 field goal shooting.
Head coach Taylor Jenkins commented postgame about adjustments against the Jazz since their last meeting:
“You can’t dig yourselves holes against any team in this league, and especially a team of this caliber. So, a lot better job. I definitely still think we had a number of breakdowns in that first quarter, so despite being down one, I felt like we could’ve even had the lead. They shot the ball really well in the first quarter. We had some breakdowns there, but we were able to fight through and make it a one-point ball game going into the second.”
On to the next one.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies will face off against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Friday night. Tip-off is at 7PM, and for the folks watching the local broadcast, don’t forget the channel is now Bally Sports Southeast.