Jaren Jackson, Jr. was ready for his first home game of the season which was also ‘Block Panther’ sock giveaway night. He had missed the first 14 games of the season after being sidelined recovering from right foot surgery.
The 23-year-old finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Jackson led Memphis to a win over the Thunder, 121-110. The victory ended a two-game losing streak for the Grizzlies, who improved to 6-1 on the season at FedExForum.
The Michigan State alum spoke about his improved rebounding numbers and paint play: “Just using my body better, knowing how to. It is really just watching Steven Adams and the things he does, like offensive rebounding on the free throw line and around the rim. How to use his body to his advantage, where and how he does things.”
Jackson concluded, “I’m not going to give the secrets out, credit to him and what I have been able to see up close. I’ve been able to ask questions all the time on how to be better.”
“It’s obviously been a point of emphasis that we’re talking to Jaren about,” Jenkins said about Jackson’s play in the interior. It’s finding those opportunities to get inside of the paint, be a threat on the offensive side, whether it’s by design or he just kind of feels it out on his own.”
Jenkins added, “Ja [Morant] was even seeking him out I think there in the first half to get him inside too. So, it’s definitely an element of our offense that we’ve been working on and talking about. Hopefully we utilize that a little bit more moving forward so that we have more threats on the inside.”
Ja Morant left the game late in the fourth quarter due to an ankle injury. Morant had to be helped to the locker room.
After the game Jenkins spoke about Morant’s injury: “He just tweaked his ankle there late in the fourth,” said Jenkins. “Really not much to report. They’re just going to get some more imaging and testing tonight and tomorrow. I’ll have more of an update tomorrow.”
The Grizzlies are obviously hoping the injury isn’t too serious, as the team is already without sharpshooter Desmond Bane (toe sprain) for at least two to three weeks.
Morant finished with a near triple-double with 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
In the best game of his career (with career highs in points and three-point makes), John Konchar chipped in 19 points and 10 rebounds while going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
After the game, Konchar commented on his three-pointers: “The Thunder likes to shift off the corner threes a lot. Ja got downhill and collapsed everybody, and yeah, I was open for a lot of them.”
It was a good night in da city for Jitty.
Up Next
The team heads to Brooklyn to take on the Nets, Sunday evening. Tip-off: 6:00 pm CT.
