The Grizzlies had bad news today, with their absolute core Morant remaining absent for more than two weeks with a knee sprain, and he will be re-evaluated in two weeks, two weeks after the regular season is nearing its end.
But for the Grizzlies, they had a good time without Morant, and they could even be said to be very good. In his last game against the Nets, Irving scored 43 points on his birthday, but still lost to the Grizzlies.
Facing the Nets, which have both Irving and Durant, the Grizzlies are completely undeterred on the offensive end, with three people scoring 20+, seven points in double figures, nine players rotating, and the lowest scoring player also has 5 points, playing team basketball to the extreme.
Against the Pacers today, also in Morant's absence, the Grizzlies won the game in just one game. They won the Pacers by 21 points in the first quarter, and 44 points in the single quarter were full of firepower.
In the first quarter, the Grizzlies shot 10 three-pointers across the team, setting a record for the number of three-pointers in a single quarter. 10 threes are distributed to five people, 3 by Bane, 2 by Jalan Jackson Jr., 2 by Jones, 2 by Melton, and even 1 by Sledgehammer.
In the second quarter, Bane hit two more three-pointers and scored 23 points at halftime, shooting 9-of-10 from the field. In the end, the Grizzlies won the Game by 30 points, And Bain clocked out of work in the third quarter, making 12 of 15 in the game and 5-of-7 from three-point range for 30 points, five rebounds and five assists.
After winning the game, the Grizzlies have achieved a staggering 16-2 record in Morant's absence. The Grizzlies have a 62.5 percent win when Morant is on the floor and an 88.9 percent win when he's out in his absence.
In Morant's absence, the Grizzlies' offensive efficiency reached 118 in the league, defensive efficiency 100.4 in the league, and net efficiency +17.5 was also the first in the league.
At the end of December last year, Morant missed 12 games, in which the Grizzlies won 10-2. When Morant returned to play poorly in the first game, the Grizzlies fans actually let Morant go down, which also shows that the Grizzlies are indeed terrifying.
Bane, who easily scored 30 points today, also scored 23 points in the last game against the Nets. Starting with the Magic on March 6, Bain scored 20 points in eight of his 10 games. So far this season, Bain has averaged 18.1 points per game and a 42.7 percent three-point shooting percentage, and he has supported the Grizzlies' outside offense.
Jaren Jackson Jr. on the inside has supported the Grizzlies' overall defense. At present, the Grizzlies are seventh in the league in defensive efficiency, and their average steals and blocks per game are the first in the league, which makes a huge contribution to Jalen Jr.
So far this season, Jaren Jackson Jr. has averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.9 steals per game and 2.3 blocks for league number one. In addition, he has the number of blocks (151) in the league, the first in the league in the block rate, the second in the league to limit the opponent's shooting percentage (at least 800 confrontations), and the third in the league to limit the opponent's three-point shooting rate among all centers.
Because of his excellent performance on the defensive end, Jalen Jackson Jr. was always on the DPOY shortlist. If the judges felt that Gobert was aesthetically tired of winning the award, then Jaren Jackson Jr. definitely deserved the award.
He himself said: "I think I'm the best defensive player of the season. I know what I can do for the team on the defensive end, I'm fast enough, I can change defenders, I have the ability to read games, I know my own strengths, and I can play my strengths into the game. ”
The impression is that Jaren Jackson Jr. is famous in the league with three points, and he can average 2.5 three-pointers per game in the 19-20 season, shooting 39%. But after a major injury last season, Jackson put his focus on the defensive end and became incredibly dazzling.
And the Grizzlies' defensive core on the outside, Dillon Brooks, has averaged 17.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game so far this season, and there is nothing to criticize except for the three-point shooting rate in the early 30s.
In addition, Tyes Jones, who replaced Morant as the starting point guard, was once a top five high school student and the first point guard in the United States, and led Duke to the championship after entering college, but his career in the NBA was not very smooth.
After entering the NBA, Jones played as a substitute for most of the time, he was unknown to the Timberwolves, and after coming to the Grizzlies, he found his role position. A 37.1 percent three-point shooting percentage and assist ability keep him in the rotation, and Morant is absent from the game, he can often deliver 10+ assists.
It was this group of young men, plus adams, the pillar of the interior, that played the second place in the West. It is conceivable that the Grizzlies in the playoffs must be promising, and a young man is not terrible without messing around.
But when a group of young people are extremely disciplined and meticulously execute the coach's arrangement, it is quite scary.