The excitement of Irving's total ban has not yet passed, and today the two-core Net was woken up by the bear's paw, losing to the Grizzlies 120-132 on the road. This is not the first time the Grizzlies have won without Morant this season, and even in Morant's absence, their winning percentage is not low.
Counting this season's missed games for Morant, the Grizzlies have won 15-2. This is quite similar to the Suns this season: Booker missed 11 games, the Suns 8-3; Paul missed 15 consecutive games, the Suns 11-4, and also locked up playoff places early. It is not surprising that the two teams that are least affected by the core absence are also the two teams with the best record in the league at present.
The same thing happens to the sun and the grizzly bears, respectively, and people react differently. In the end, it is because the Suns still have more than one star on the line and have just endured the baptism of the Finals last year, and the Grizzlies have no All-Star players except Morant, a civilian team that has just returned to the playoffs last season.
How bizarre is the situation with grizzly bears? As evidenced by the data, the Grizzlies' offensive efficiency (118), defensive efficiency (100.4) and net efficiency (+17.5) are the first in the league in this season's missing games. Combined with this game, the first thing that catches the eye is that the Grizzlies have a lot of available soldiers. The Grizzlies scored seven in double figures, three in 20+, and the bench scored a 52-11 lead. According to statistics, this season's Grizzlies substitute averaged 19.6 minutes per game, scoring 37.7 points, two of which were no. 1 and 9 in the league. This filled the gap created by Morant's departure to the greatest extent possible.
After Morant left, Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bain took his gun. The duo combined 8 of 17 three-pointers and scored 20 points. Melton became a bench wizard, scoring 23 points this game to set a new season scoring record, and 6 of 10 three-pointers also tied the career record.
In addition, the former MOP Tyes Jones was dutiful as a backup point guard, and the team was more in place after making up the first serve. At the end of 2021, when Morant was injured, the Grizzlies handed over 10 wins and 2 losses, and Jones was the main controller at that time. Today he also had 16 points and 10 assists on 5-of-11 shooting, making just two turnovers.
At the same time, it is conceivable that in the absence of Morant, the young people of the Grizzlies will also compete for the lead, and it is not surprising that the strong enemy is caught off guard. When Grizzlies coach Jenkins talked about why his team is so strong after the game, he also mentioned one word: cohesion!
Of course, this is not to say that Morant is useless. The playoffs need to be tackled, and it is the stage for stars like Morant to play, which is very different from the regular season, which relies more on the team. In addition, Morant also brought 11 consecutive wins to the Grizzlies this season. The Grizzlies have refuted the "better than Morant" argument before, and now they share the same view.
In the history of the NBA, it is not uncommon for civilian teams to create glory, and the Grizzlies are just repeating the path of their predecessors. (Supine Braces/Hairy)