If you want to talk about the most surprising team this season, it is the Memphis Grizzlies in the West. As a relatively young team, they have pulled down league giants like the Suns and nets this season, thus achieving a wave of 11 consecutive wins in the middle of the season! At the same time, Morant, who is only 22 years old, has also come to the top ten of the MVP list, earning enough traffic for both individuals and teams. At this stage, they still maintain a record of 31 wins and 16 losses, ranking third in the West, and this game also pulled the team to Denver, away to challenge the former defeated Nuggets.
That's right, as early as early November, the Nuggets were killed by Morant's back-to-back challenge to the Grizzlies. So, will Jokic lead the team to a vengeance this time? At the start of the game, the Grizzlies, who played on the road, responded to the Nuggets with a high state. That's right, they quickly got into shape in the first quarter, with star Morant shooting 5-of-7, delivering 12 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists to lead the team to a 37-28 single-quarter score and a nine-point lead.
After entering the second quarter of the showdown, the Nuggets, who were in a backward state, could also counterattack. Jokic returned to form, also had an efficient output of 4 shots and 3 in a single quarter, sending 8 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist, and Jeff Green also sent 6 points and 2 rebounds with 100% shooting. With the two men in succession, the Nuggets scored 35-31 in the second quarter and recovered the four points they were behind in the first quarter. At the end of the first half, the Grizzlies still maintained a five-point lead. The situation is still relatively clear, and the Nuggets will have to make more efforts in the next competition if they want to achieve revenge.
Unfortunately, after Yibian fought again, the Grizzlies did not let the Nuggets succeed, but instead clenched the lead and continued to consume the remaining game time. In the third quarter of the competition, Morant played another 12 minutes of game time, sending 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, helping the team to play a 30-29 score and take another 1-point lead. In the crucial final quarter of the competition, even if the Nuggets can play a 26-24 single-quarter score, to recover the previous 2 points behind. After the regular quarter of the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies still won the game with a score of 122-118.
The Grizzlies' home star Morant scored a game-high score of 38 points with an efficient output of 15 of 26 shots in the 37 minutes of the game, as well as 6 rebounds and 6 assists. And Jokic, who got 26+11+12, could only cut three doubles and become the losing side again. Looking back at the game, the Nuggets' starting five tigers clearly scored in double figures, Barton also handed over a comprehensive statistic of 27 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, and Gordon also had a 16+6+9 data contribution. It is a pity that the Denver Nuggets, who played like this, were finally hit by the Grizzlies.
However, when we see the data of the players on the Grizzlies' side, we may be relieved. In addition to Morant's highest score in the game, Jalen Jr. also has 20 points and 5 rebounds, and Maton, who came off the bench, also shot 6 of 13, sending a comprehensive stat of 21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Facing the Grizzlies' bench scorer, Jokic's triple-double stats are still slightly pale.