The Grizzlies beat the Bucks at home to win four straight. Without Morant, the young Grizzlies were still racing down the road, running even more wildly than before. Despite having an MVP superstar like Alphabet Brother on the other side, the Grizzlies still crushed all the way, defeating the defending champions and winning a 25-point victory.
After winning the Bucks today, the Grizzlies are more securely ranked second in the West and even second in the league. Interestingly, when Morant was on the floor, the Grizzlies had an offensive efficiency of 114.9, a defensive efficiency of 111.2, and a net efficiency of 3.7; while when Morant was not on the floor, the Grizzlies had an offensive efficiency of 111.7 and a defensive efficiency of 104.1, with a net of 7.6 points per 100 possessions. It's no exaggeration to say that without Morant, the Grizzlies' data performance is even crazier.
Morant is a popular candidate for MVP, but the strong performance of his Grizzlies teammates proves that the team's success is not his own. This season's Grizzlies are competitive on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and Morant is the superstar who raised the ceiling.
In the crucial moment when the difference in points in the last 5 minutes was less than 5 points, Morant averaged 4.6 points per game, leading the team to 17 wins and 9 losses. In terms of key moments, Morant is second only to Embiid's 4.7 points. Morant's style of play is gorgeous, tough, quite a bit of retro and old-school star style, but this style and temperament, but not belong to him alone, but belongs to the entire Grizzlies team.
After this campaign, the Grizzlies created a strange number. When Morant was absent, their record was 17 wins and 2 losses, with a winning percentage of 89.5%. This win rate even surpassed that of the Bulls in 1995-96 and the Warriors in 2015-16. Among them, the 96 Bulls achieved 72 wins and 10 losses, with a winning percentage of 87.8%, while the 16 Warriors were 73 wins and 9 losses, with a winning percentage of 89%.
When it comes to the championship race this season, people will always mention the Nets, Philadelphia, Bucks, Suns and Warriors, but just as no one paid attention to the Grizzlies at the beginning of the season, maybe they will go black to the end and become real dark horses. Now the Grizzlies seem to have faintly revealed the sharp edge of the 2015 Warriors, do you think?