The Trailblazers became dark horses
The Los Angeles Lakers' losing streak continues, making their ninth position in the West a bit dangerous. The tenth team in the West is the Portland Trail Blazers, Lillard is out of the game due to injury, McCollum is traded, Powell and Covington are also sent away, everyone thinks that this team is going to be rotten, but who would have thought that they ended a 6-game losing streak under the leadership of Simmons Jr. and Nurkic, and then went all the way through the barrier to continuously narrow the gap with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Blazers, who have won three straight games, have ushered in a formidable opponent, the third-place Grizzlies in the West. This team has won 6 consecutive wins, the state can be imagined, and the return of the star Morant in this game is undoubtedly the worst news for the Blazers, but even so, they still show their strength.
Morant tried his best
Morant showed his strength in the first quarter, shooting 5 of 5, 9 of 10 from the free throw line, challenging the Blazers' box again and again, and bombarding 20 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists in a single quarter, which was simply unstoppable. Under Morant's leadership, the Grizzlies scored 32 points in a single quarter, but remained behind. Simmons Jr. also had 11 points and three assists, Nurkic had 7 points and three assists, Winslow had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, and the Blazers blasted 36 points in the quarter to take the lead. After returning from the second quarter, the point difference is still widening.
Hart stepped forward again, scoring 10 points, three rebounds and three assists on 4-of-5 shooting, McLemore on the bench made 3-of-3 shooting, with 7 points and 1 assist, and the Blazers had 32 points in the quarter. While Morant scored seven more points and two assists on a lethal run, the Grizzlies were 11 points behind by halftime. In the second half, the Grizzlies continued to narrow the point gap, Morant was 8 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in the single quarter, Bane also had 9 points and 1 rebound, and the team bombed 33 points in a single quarter, successfully narrowing the point difference to 4 points, and the suspense returned.
In the face of the Grizzlies' chase, the Blazers withstood the pressure in the final quarter, Nurkic 5-of-8 shooting 14 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal, Simmons Jr. also had 9 points and 1 steal, the two combined to get 23 points, making Morant and Bane's combined 19 points useless. In the end, the Portland Blazers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 123-119 on the road and successfully won four consecutive wins.
The Lakers are in danger
31 + 32 points, the dark horse of the west surfaced! Morant 44+5+11 is also willing to bow to the wind. Morant's first game of comeback, playing an unparalleled personal performance, 44 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists, what else can you ask for? Bane also had 30 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist, and the two cores performed very well, but in addition to the two, the Grizzlies only had Clark on the bench to score in double figures, with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jalen Jackson Jr. shot 2 of 10, only 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocks, which was very bad.
In contrast, the Blazers side is more blossoming, Simmons Jr. had 31 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, hit 5 three-pointers, Nurkic shot 12 of 17, also had 32 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and new signing Hart had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists on 7 of 12 shooting, which was perfectly integrated into the team's system. Winslow had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and McLemore had 14 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. After beating the Grizzlies, the Blazers won 4 consecutive wins, only 2 wins away from the Los Angeles Lakers, and it has to be said that the Lakers are dangerous.