On the second night of back-to-back games, the Memphis Grizzlies decimated the Washington Wizards without Ja Morant and Desmond Bane.
With a final score of 140-112, the Grizzlies emerged from their weekend road trip 2-0.
After a hard-fought win against the Boston Celtics in which he scored a season-high 31 points, Ja Morant sat out against the Wizards with back soreness.
Expect Memphis to continue its cautionary approach to managing Morant’s injuries.
But even without two of their best players, the Grizzlies looked poised, prepared, and just plain better than their opponents, largely thanks to their incredible depth.
Scotty Pippen Jr. and Marcus Smart moved into the starting lineup, but even without them, the bench outscored the starters 76-64.
The Wizards were led on both ends of the court by a familiar face — Lithuanian big man Jonas Valančiūnas, who played for the Grizzlies from 2019-2021.
Despite Valanciunas’ 20-point, 14-rebound double-double, the Wizards had no answer for the Grizzlies. Washington held a two-point lead for a grand total of 47 seconds in the first quarter.
Memphis was led offensively by Jaren Jackson Jr., who fielded 21 points, four rebounds, and four blocks on 8 of 15 overall shooting and 3 of 8 from beyond the arc — all in a mere 16:46 minutes of playing time.
Scotty Pippen Jr. looked right at home back in the starting lineup, delivering 14 points, 12 assists, and 2 steals on 6 of 11 shooting from the field.
Marcus Smart was similarly at ease moving from the bench unit to the starters, putting up 13 points and three rebounds while shooting 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range.
Brandon Clarke was coming off his best game of the season against the Celtics but still had a respectable showing against the Wizards. He finished the night with 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Santi Aldama was the leading scorer off the bench with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, and three blocks while shooting 7 of 11 overall and a team-best 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Reserve center Jay Huff finished the night with 17 points and three rebounds while rookie shooting guard Cam Spencer added 14 points, four rebounds, and five assists on 4 of 8 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 from three-point range in his third ever NBA game.
We even got a brief appearance from Yuki Kawamura in the fourth quarter:
Who Got Next?
The next two games are recent additions to the schedule, among other teams that have also been eliminated from the NBA Cup: Friday, December 13th, at home against the Brooklyn Nets, with a 7 p.m. CST tip-off time, and Sunday, December 15th, on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers, tipping off at 8:30 p.m. CST.