On December 16, Beijing time, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-103.
At present, the Grizzlies have won four consecutive games, in the ten games that the star Morant missed due to injury, they have won nine games, during this period, the Grizzlies' defensive efficiency and net efficiency ranked first in the league, the so-called "winning is not terrible, lack of water who is embarrassed", in this regard, I am afraid that the most embarrassing of this season is the Rockets' leader Jaylen Green and Morant, when they are not there, the team's defensive enthusiasm is higher, and the offense has become more holistic.
But this is not to deny the value of Morant, this Grizzlies currently ranked fourth in the West, has opened the gap between the two wins and the fifth place Clippers, with the strength and momentum they have shown, this season to continue to reach the playoffs is not a problem, and in the playoffs Morant is the key player who can determine the upper limit of this team, no one else, but in the playoffs, the Grizzlies are tenacious and hard-working, and the team culture of playing every game as a last game. Let them perform well when they are missing anyone.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Grizzlies are the league's best "diligent and clumsy" team, this small market team can neither attract stars nor retain stars, you can find this from the list of stars they are ready to retire jerseys, but the reason why they can use a relatively cheap lineup to maintain their competitiveness is to rely on their own correct attitude, which is not available to many teams in the league, but the NBA is a place to eat by talent, talent is insufficient, and the height that can be reached by hard work and diligence alone is still relatively limited.
And even if the Grizzlies are in the first half of the zone, their playoff situation is not optimistic, the first round they are likely to face Leonard's Clippers or the Lakers of the Big Three, these two teams will play more or less in the regular season because they want to protect the stars, and when the playoffs are the stars of the fight, Morant is indeed very powerful, but compared with the Clippers' George, Leonard, Lakers' James, Westbrook and thick eyebrows, it is not a level, and can only sigh with the results of hard work in front of talent and absolute star strength. Maybe the final result is that the first round is difficult to pass, it is so cruel.