Tag: Jake LaRavia

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Denver Too Much for Memphis in Season’s Final Game

GG Jackson #45 of the Memphis Grizzlies dribbles the ball up the court during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at FedExForum on April 14, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

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.”

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Grizzlies Fall in Last Road Game of the Season

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - MARCH 27: Grizz, mascot of the Memphis Grizzlies during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at FedExForum on March 27, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

The Memphis Grizzlies played and lost their last away game of the season Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, where they were defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers, 110-98. The Grizzlies dropped their third consecutive game and the Cavaliers ended a three-game losing streak.

The Grizzlies fell to 27-53 with two games remaining in the season, while Cleveland improved to 47-33, with postseason aspirations. 

Memphis held a 51-48 advantage in the first half, then the Cavs woke up, outscoring the undermanned Grizzlies 30-16 in the third quarter to go up 78-67 entering the fourth. 

With only eight players dressed, there were only three players available for the Grizzlies off the bench. They were outscored 29-6 by the Cavs reserves. 

Memphis finished 18-23 on the road, slightly better than last season’s 16-25. By comparison, the team has a record of 9-30 at FedExForum, with two games remaining. Last season the franchise had one of the best home records in the association at 35-6. 

The Grizzlies were paced by forward Jake LaRavia, who scored a career-high 32 points, with 21 of those coming in a blazing first half. 

LaRavia went 8-11 from the three-point line, while grabbing seven rebounds, adding two steals and a block. 

Rookie sensation GG Jackson II finished with 22 points, two rebounds and two assists. For the season, Jackson II is averaging 13.6 points and four rebounds. 

Scotty Pippen Jr. added 18 points on 46.7 percent shooting, with six assists and four rebounds. 

Former Cavalier Lamar Stevens ended with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. The Grizzlies picked up Stevens in a deal that sent Xavier Tillman, Sr. to Boston before the trade deadline. 

Up Next 

The Grizzlies will host the Los Angeles Lakers, who are still hunting for postseason position, on Friday night, April 12th at 7pm CT.

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Grizzlies Rally Past Sixers

(Photo: Wes Hale)

Despite being down 12 points entering the fourth quarter, the Memphis Grizzlies rallied to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-109 on Wednesday night. They went on an 11-0 run near the end of the quarter and outscored the 76ers, 34-16. 

Memphis has won their last two games after snapping a five-game losing run after the All-Star break. 

“I challenge the guys at halftime — I mean that was pretty poor performance in the first half, lack of urgency, lack of communication,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. “The Sixers got whatever they wanted in the first half, rotation, second chance points — through three quarters they had 30 second chance points and ended up with 35.

Jenkins continued, “So [a] better job in the fourth quarter but challenged them at halftime a little bit better even though we lost the third quarter by four. I said, hey, flush the first three quarters, we’re gonna come out, we’re gonna play our best quarter in the fourth. 

“We just found a way to execute down the stretch and came down to just being in the right spots, the ball movement, multiple guys with multiple assists, but Vince [Williams Jr.] and Santi [Aldama] especially. Those guys did a great job facilitating some big time shots, knocked down some big free throws, and then just limiting them at the end of the game, second-chance points was huge for us to get this victory.

“These guys have just been really hanging in,” Jenkins said. “There’s still a lot more basketball left to play in the season. We keep reminding them, here’s what’s in front of us, here’s our reality. What are we going to do about?

“We go out there, we just keep pushing them to make the winning plays by our standard, and guys have been rising to the occasion,” Jenkins added. You see a lot of different guys rise to the occasion and get this opportunity. It’s pretty special to see and hopefully carries forth this season and beyond.”

After missing three games with right quad tendon pain, Jackson returned to the lineup and wasted little time making an impression. The All-Star forward finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Jackson Jr. recorded a double-double for the seventh time this season, and tied his season high for rejections. 

Jake LaRavia had another solid game 19 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks. For the second game in a row, the sophomore forward recorded back to back double-doubles as a reserve.

To close it out Vince Williams Jr. chipped in 17 points, team-high nine assists, seven rebounds, and two steals. Santi Aldama added 17 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three blocks. 

Memphis totaled 15 blocks on the night. 

The Grizzlies return home on Friday, March 8th, to face the Atlanta Hawks at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM ESPN.

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Blazers Snap Nine-Game Skid With 30-point Win Over Memphis

Memphis Grizzlies forward Lamar Stevens (24) shoots the ball during the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers at FedEx Forum on March 1, 2024, in Memphis TN. (Wes Hale Photo)

On Friday at FedExForum, the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 122-92 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, thanks in large part to a stellar third quarter. The Blazers outscored Memphis 40-27 in the third. 

When asked how the team would bounce back from the 30-point loss at home, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins seemed visibly upset and uttered, “We have to — this is embarrassing.”

How embarrassing was it, though? Both teams have been impacted by injuries and were missing key players.

For Jenkins, missing key players was not an excuse for the team’s performance against Portland: “They played extremely well, and we didn’t have it. We played poorly.”

Rookie GG Jackson II who finished with 11 points off the bench on Friday night didn’t like the feeling of letting the fans down. 

“You see your fans leaving with like eight minutes left in the game —that really sticks to us as players,” said Jackson II. “They want to come see us play. That’s kind of like them slapping us in our face saying, ‘We don’t want to see you play.’ We got to change that.” 

The Grizzlies have dropped their third straight game and 12th in their last 14. For an organization that finished second in the West the previous two years, it is a huge letdown. 

Jake LaRavia has been mired with injuries most of his tenure with the Grizzlies. As a reserve on Friday, he led the Grizzlies with a career-high 21 points, going 7-for-13 from the field. 

The second-year forward’s play was one bright spot for Jenkins on the night. “It was really encouraging,” Jenkins said of LaRavia’s performance. “I thought he came out aggressive — shooting the 3-ball, getting downhill, getting to the free throw line, [and] a couple assists. I thought he did some good things defensively. Definitely some things that [he] can clean up on the defensive end; playing a little bit more physical on the ball, better one-on-one. I think, as a team, we just got embarrassed one-on-one, but he was a bright spot for sure. Love his movement off the ball, movement with the ball, but being aggressive, that was the biggest takeaway.”

The 22-year-old forward is averaging 9.8 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal in four games since returning from an ankle injury. 

Lamar Stevens had a season-high 19 points off the bench. With no starter scoring more than 10 points for the Grizzlies, Stevens and LaRavia tried their best to carry the load. 

Since joining the Grizzlies prior to the trade deadline, Stevens has been a reliable frontcourt player. In his last seven games for the team, he has shot 56.3% from the field while averaging 12.1 points, 5.1 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block in just 20.7 minutes per game.

Up Next 

Like deja vu, both teams will play again tonight, at FedExForum with a 7 pm tip-off. 

The Grizzlies will look to put up a better performance in front of the home crowd. “Every loss motivates a basketball player, but this one in particular definitely motivates us,” Jackson II said after Friday’s blowout loss.