Inadvertently, the Pelicans, who received CJ McCollum before the trade deadline, could also blow the horn towards the playoffs at the end of the regular season. After winning game after game, the Pelicans can now also finish with a 27-37 record, coming to the tenth place in the West, chasing the Los Angeles Lakers in ninth place. After years of dormancy, this long-sleeping water bird should also spread its wings and fly. In fact, the Pelicans have also ushered in a good news in recent times: Zion will also return to the court in the near future.
So far this season, fans have almost forgotten that the league has such a talent that can be compared to LeBron James. This game, the New Orleans Pelicans came to Memphis to play the Grizzlies on the road. As the largest dark horse team in the West this season, the Grizzlies have come to the second place in the West with a record of 44 wins and 22 losses. Compared to the records of the two teams, the Pelicans will obviously be the team that is bullied, but will they compromise easily? Let's wait and see.
At the beginning of the game, the Grizzlies took the lead and got the lead. Morant sent 9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block from 4-of-4 shooting in a single quarter, and Bane even had 3-of-3 three-pointers and 5-of-7 shooting to deliver a crucial 13-pointer, as well as 1 rebound and 1 assist. With a succession of efforts from the team's starting core, the Grizzlies played a 44-34 score to take a 10-point lead. McCollum shot 6-of-8 in the first quarter, delivering 16 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, but failed to help the team take the lead, which is regrettable.
Entering the second quarter of the showdown, the Grizzlies, who played in a state, could further expand the point difference, with more blossoms of players on the team, and then scored a 9-point lead with a score of 33-24. At the end of the first half, the Grizzlies were already 19 points ahead of the Pelicans! The game went this way, and there was basically no great suspense in this game. And Yi Bian fought again, and the Grizzlies could still play a 35-26 score in the third quarter, once again taking a 9-point lead. By the time they reached the crucial final quarter, the point difference between the two sides had widened to 28 points, and the starters of both sides had also chosen to clock out of work, and the fourth quarter sent rotating players to consume the remaining game time.
In the end, regular time was over, and the Grizzlies won the game with a score of 131-111 without any suspense. McCollum only played three quarters, and it was a pity that mcCollum gave up a game-high score of 32 points, as well as 6 rebounds and 11 assists, but finally failed to win. And we have to admit that the Grizzlies are indeed a powerful dark horse in the West. Six of their players scored in double digits, three of them scoring at least 20 points. Morant was 24+8+8, Bain also had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and Jalen Jr. had 22 points and 3 rebounds.
Who would have thought that when the Grizzlies won this game and locked in the second place in the West, they also inadvertently helped the Los Angeles Lakers! Yes, in terms of the current record and ranking, the Lakers are still very afraid that the Pelicans will achieve a cold counterattack, thus surpassing their record. But the final ending is still very clear, and the Lakers can breathe a sigh of relief.