After that excitement of four wins that accompanied the return of Ja Morant after serving a 25-game suspension, the Grizzlies face a reality in the form of a calendar: Nuggets, Clippers and Kings, three consecutive defeats and a 1-1 loss. A nightmare of playing for 10th place in the West, once again a long way from a team that finished second in its conference the past two seasons but this time, between Morant's absence and bleeding injuries, nearly lost the season . Almost: There's still a long way to go, but there are five and a half games to go from 10th place. To have any chance if things go well again, which we'll have to see, the Grizzlies have to beat opponents like the Spurs. So they did so (106-98).
The game, however, was ugly. There is nothing to brag about. If anything, it's been covered by its highlights. The fans wanted Ja Morant and Victor Winbanyama to collide…and they saw them. The French midfielder fouled the point guard in the opening part of the game, but in the final quarter he made one of those shots that few would dare to make against him. “He's so young, so it's hard to see him coming. He's so fast,” Wimpy later said. Morant dedicated the play to the crowd: “It was what the fans wanted to see, so it was like my last Christmas present.”
This knockout, the picture of a game with nothing else to celebrate, also scored +18 (88-70) for a Grizzlies team that finally, in Morant's best minutes, got rid of a lesser but tough opponent. , who was not finished leaving until that final stage. Previously, there were too many minutes of poor attacking from both teams. Or good defenses…or a little of both. But Tottenham are only strong in defense when Wambanyama is on the field. The Frenchman played only 26 minutes. Once he sat down, Jaren Jackson Jr. found ways to get to the rim. With little external success and Desmond Bane (24 points) freed up due to the lack of specialists on his rival's flanks, things ended up falling under their own weight. Morant scored 26 points and 10 assists, and Santi Aldama had a very good game, who played more than 28 minutes and finished the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
At Spurs, there are many problems (and more with the injury to Zach Collins) without Wembanyama who finished the game with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and another basket (a 3-pointer on one foot) adding to his already extensive collection of goals. Actions in How the Hell Could This Version Do.
Beyond that, very little. Melky Branham was injured and Devin Vassell wasn't doing enough (only 8 shots in 34 minutes). Tottenham do not have enough firepower in attack or armor in defense to sustain themselves despite trying to make the necessary effort. With that, they won the first quarter (20-23, some horrific minutes for the Grizzlies) and more or less made it to the final third of the game. But nothing more than that, it's 5-28 for a team that has no more reason to exist than the minutes Wimpanyama has played. The Grizzlies are left with an 11-22 record that takes them out of the drain but doesn't put them in a position to salvage a very difficult season. We'll see where they are in a couple of weeks.
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