Morant is sidelined with injury
After Morant's return, the Memphis Grizzlies reawakened, and the team won a wave of four consecutive wins, although they are still in the bottom three of the West, but they have gradually seen the hope of the play-offs. In this game, the Grizzlies will face the Denver Nuggets on the road, Morant is out due to injury, along with Rose and Aldama, Kennard and Adams, plus Clark. That's right, the Grizzlies have as many as six injured on their list, and in such a situation, challenging the defending champions is almost unrealistic.
The Nuggets have also been in excellent form lately, with the team on a five-game winning streak, with the only concern being that the team's starter Gordon was bitten by a dog and is currently sidelined. As a result, Malone replaced Gordon with Watson to the starting lineup, and as long as Jokic is there, the strength of this team is beyond doubt.
Jokic had a triple-double
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the Nuggets immediately showed the strength of the defending champions, Jokic scored 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 6-of-6 shooting, the strength of the league's first person was unparalleled, the team scored 33 points in a single quarter, while the Grizzlies only scored 27 points, of which Bane scored 10 points, 1 assist and 1 steal. After returning from the game in the second quarter, Jokic only had 1 shot, 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Murray got 8 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists, and Waters also had 5 points and 2 rebounds, and the team scored 32 points in a single quarter, and the state was very hot.
The Grizzlies are in no state, Smart has 5 points and 2 assists, and Jalen Jr. has 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and the team only scored 21 points in a single quarter. At halftime, the Nuggets led the Grizzlies by 17 points, 65-48. In the second half, the Grizzlies gradually regained their form, Bane scored another 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, Smart also had 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, and the team scored 35 points in a single quarter, but the Nuggets were still widening the difference. Jokic had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists on 4-of-4 shooting, while Murray had 10 points, 2 assists and 1 steal, and the team scored 41 points in a single quarter and successfully stretched the gap to 23 points.
With such a huge point difference, the game lost its suspense. The Nuggets' core players clocked out early, and the Grizzlies did not entangle, switching to the bench lineup, and the game went straight into garbage time. Even so, the Nuggets continued to widen the gap, and with the final whistle, the Denver Nuggets finally defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 142-105.
The Grizzlies lost by 37 points
The Nuggets won the game without suspense, Jokic clocked out in the third quarter, shot 11 of 11 from the field, and got a triple-double of 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Murray also had 23 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists on 9-of-12 shooting, Watson had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, Pope had 12 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, and two players on the bench also scored double-doubles.
On the Grizzlies' side, Morant's absence team immediately suffered a heavy defeat, which is enough to prove the question of how important Morant is to this team. Smart had 17 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists on 6-of-14 shooting, Bane had 23 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, and was efficient on 9-of-13 shooting, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, Roddy on the bench had 15 points and 2 assists, and Konchar had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and only five players on the team scored double-doubles, shooting 13-of-34 from three-point range.