The Grizzlies beat the Hawks and improve to 3-0 with Ja Morant

The Grizzlies beat the Hawks and improve to 3-0 with Ja Morant

[Applause] Mor with a running start El D oh my goodness TI game in overtime Gasol will turn his he is gone is on top s t Conley now a three County a 15o play for Memphis and Blake Griffin gets into it on the floor with Randol hard to tell if there are any

Punches being thrown under there but Griffin took except Adams going long Mor he hit it he hit it jat Insanity you got to be kidding welcome to grits and grinds a Memphis Grizzlies podcast Grizzlies win again Edition my name is Keith Parish surprised I’m doing another episode

Hadn’t really planned to but hey I had a Sunday off and The Grizzlies won their third straight for their first winning streak of the season so I figured why not let’s Relish in it the Grizzlies came from behind and beat the Atlanta Hawks on the road on Saturday night the

Grizzlies scored a season High 125 points they improved to three and o with John Morant let’s talk about the entire game before I do just a reminder if you want to help out the creation of this show go to patreon.com Fastbreak breakfast if you join my patreon you get exclusive bonus

Content including a bonus episode of Fast Break breakfast every month plus you can join the slack Channel you can join the grits and grinds specific slack Channel and talk about the Memphis Grizzlies with me and other listeners whenever you want again support the show patreon.com slash fast break breakfast

All right this one was more of an offensive shootout maybe then the last game um the Grizzlies fell down by 10 points at halftime but responded in the second half with a season High 75 points having one more Point than they scored in the second half against the Pelicans and you

Got once again huge performances from your big three johnar Desmond Bane and jiren Jackson J have now scored 20 or more points a piece in all three games this season that they’ve played together and that uh runs their tally I believe just seven and0 all time they definitely

Never lost when all three of those guys score 20 or more but the big hero I think um sorry jiren you’re kind of third wheel on this one it’s Desmond Bane and johnar Bane led the team with 37 points including 31 in the second second half this is the third game of

Desmond Bane’s career where he’s had a 30-point half he had 32 in that 49-point performance against the Pistons earlier this year as the Grizzlies came from that halftime deficit and came back and basically seized control of this game you had Bane and Morant basically being a handful that could not be stopped by

The way um the highest scoring half in franchise history I assume all the faithful listeners know this one but if you’re not a faithful listener or you have a short-term memory deficit of course the answer is Kenneth Lon Jr who had 35 points in the Kenneth Thon Jr

Game against the Thunder last year by the way um Kenneth Thon Jr if you didn’t see it he assigned a two-way deal with the Philadelphia 76ers so good luck to Junior um joining our dearly departed De Anthony Melton up in Philadelphia but Bane had 37 points not just that uh he

Continued his streak of making three or more three-pointers it’s not the longest streak in the um longest current streak in the NBA right now at 12 games in a row with at least three made three-pointers extending that Grizzlies franchise record the longest streak in the NBA this year so far belongs to Kobe

White by the way but Bane hit five more three-pointers for the month of December this is the Grizzly’s last 10 games Desmond Bane is averaging 28 points per game he’s averaging 3.9 made three-pointers per game he’s eighth in the NBA in points per game in the month

Of December the 39 made threes I was thinking all right that’s kind of a lot I don’t think it’s a Grizzlies franchise record but I’m curious what the Grizzlies franchise record is for most made threes over any 10 game span turns out the franchise record is by Mike

Miller in the 2006 2007 season Mike Miller like 16 years ago made 51 three-pointers over a 10 game span that is a Preposterous number he made seven or more three-pointers in three straight games during that span so uh that’s an incredible performance by one of my favorite uh old Grizzlies

Players Mike Miller I I can’t even imagine what I would have been like if I had been podcasting back then but uh Bane with a ways to go to catch up with that Mike Miller record but again Bane continues playing incredibly well and also uh continued for the second

Straight game doing most of his damage in the second half if you remember he scored 22 of his 31 points against the Pacers in the second half so the last two second halfs Bane has scored 22 and 30 one now johnar had his first 30-point uh

10 assist game of his short season so far finished with 30 points and 11 assists as he went head-to-head with Trey young I mean he didn’t really go head-to-head with Trey Young young Vince Williams Jr guarded Trey young all night Trey did extend his historic streak of consecutive games with at least 30

Points and 10 assists he matched the longest streak in NBA history he matched Oscar Robertson with seven straight games of at least 30 points and 10 assists I have Trey young in a couple of different fantasy leagues and it’s been a delight but also I’ve been watching

These games and he definitely guns for the record at the end of the games and I don’t know if to the detriment of the team I mean they’re a little bit short-handed the Hawks are right now they didn’t have DeAndre hunter in this one of course Jaylen Johnson’s been out

For a while but um during the seven game streak where Trey young matched OS Oscar Robertson the Hawks have only won three of those games but johnar was scintillating spectacular amazing once again and he is totally transform this Grizzlies team the Grizzlies team who in the first 25 games

Shot over 50% as a the team just two times they’ve now done it all three games that John Mar’s been here they shot 51% against the Hawks they now have a 120 offensive rating in the three games that John marant’s been here in the first 25 games of the season they

Were right at 105 offensive rating um their points in the paint all of a sudden have skyrocketed they had 76 points in the paint that’s an outrageous number they’re taking shots of course right in front of the rim where they were not previously that Stephen Adams stats account on

Twitter posted that the Grizzlies have attempted 36% of their field goal attempts at The Rim in the last three games that’s up from 26% of their attempts through the first 25 games that 26% number was 27th in the NBA so the Grizzlies are scoring in the paint they

Are getting these huge performances from their big three I mean Jaren has slotted into this like third option and he slotted there basically perfectly for the second straight game he went eight out of 10 from the floor scored 20 points had two rebounds no assists no

Steals and no blocks that is an Allen Houston stat line by the way jiren has had consecutive games with zero blocks so he’s still one block behind stromas Swift for the third most in franchise history um this was the first time jiren has had consecutive games with zero

Blocks since last December it’s been over 12 12 months since jiren did that but when you’re getting these huge performances like you’ve gotten in all three games now it’s enough as the Grizzlies um have found their winning ways now I do think we can maintain a sort of

Level head by poking some holes in this very short winning streak I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that to just be aware like the last two Grizzlies games they’ve had schedule advantages against the Pacers the Pacers were on the road on the second night of a back

Tob back the Hawks on Saturday night were actually on the second night of a back toback and they were traveling so this was a rest Advantage game for the Grizzlies and a lot of times in those rest Advantage games you might see the team at the disadvantage fade in the

Second half and that is exactly what we saw in this game now a good omen if I don’t want to necessarily give you a downer for the three-game winning streak again I’m not saying feel bad about it I am ecstatic I’ve never been happier um watching the Grizzlies is amazing again

Um but a good sign I think from this three-game winning streak outside of course the offensive rating is the fact that they have a great offensive rating and they’re still not making three-pointers yeah Dez you know made five that’s on 14 attempts the previous game he had five on 12 attempts those

Numbers are fine they’re not bad but the rest of the roster not making three-pointers so the Grizzlies are posting this incredible offensive rating or is a very very good offensive rating and they’re still not making three-pointers so I think that part of it is in fact a good sign another reason

I think the Grizzles are finding success outside of the play of your big three of J Desmond and jiren is they keep leaning on Vince Williams Jr as this connective piece as this like fourth best player they are playing heavy minutes to their main guys jiren struggled with foul trouble once

Again did he foul out no he did not jiren only played 24 minutes but they are playing their main guys heavy heavy minutes jaw played 36 Desmond Bane played 36 Vince Williams Jr played 35 that’s in line with the number of minutes that they’ve been playing those guys for the

Past three games since jaw returned Vince Williams Jr has played right at 35 minutes in each of the last three games he is only the fifth player under Taylor Jenkins to play 34 or more minutes in three consecutive games the only players to do so are johnar Desmond Bane Dylan Brooks tus

Jones did it once and now Vince Williams Jr has done it once jiren Jackson Jr has never played 34 or minutes in three straight games under Taylor jins now Vince Williams Jr has and with these minutes you’ve seen him make the most of his opportunities I mean he’s not a

Scorer we know that the last two games the three-pointers haven’t really gone in but it doesn’t matter he guards the other team’s best player he makes it his life’s Mission basically to get the ball to jaw Desmond and jiren he is exactly what I think Grizzly’s fans wanted Dylan

Brooks to be Vince Williams Jr guards the other team’s best player and then on offense only shoots open threes and layups and makes it his sole purpose to get the ball to jaw Desmond and jiren he also does something that Dylan Brooks never could do which is rebound in this

Game against the Hawks Vince Williams Jr set a career high with 11 rebounds for the month of December the last 10 games Vince Williams Jr still leads the Grizzlies in rebounds per game at 6.5 Vince Williams Jr is 6’4 and he is pound-for-pound the best rebounder on the team I would say

Removing the pound-for-pound caveat he might be the best rebounder on the team just period I mean bismack solid rebounder but he’s 6′ 11 or so bismack had 11 rebounds on this one got back kind of in a better performance they chose to close with bismack they played

Bismack 29 minutes but compared with the activity of Vince Williams Jr I mean it’s hard for anybody else to keep up basically the guy is this motor and he’s this connective piece that works so well it’s been such a delight to see him play um also he’s getting some of the

Defensive stats that I feel like he was robbed of um in previous games he got two steals in this one he had a career-high three steals against the Pacers so he’s actually getting some Ste Ste numbers to go with those deflections and he’s still making hustle plays where

Other players end up with the steel numbers where he’s knocking it away like I think Biz got a steel on this one where it actually was Vince Williams Jr dislodging a rebound and there were moments in the second half where there are offensive rebounds there are Second Chance opportunities created where it

Was all Vince Williams Jr Vince Williams Jr he’s guarding the other team’s best player who’s a point guard but then on defense or on offense he’s the main offensive rebounder keeping these possessions alive it’s incredible to see I have been just delighted with what bince Williams Jr has provided in recent

Games now Taylor Jan said before this game that Marcus Smart is expected back in the next game we got a bit of a um a curveball thrown to us where Marcus popped up as doubtful on the last injury report on the injury report before um

The Pacers game and so we’re like oh we know what this means that means he’s going to be questionable next game he’s going to play play but no he was doubtful again I don’t know if Grizzly’s PR just did this to throw off the scent of their normal pattern but Marcus Smart

Did not make his season debut or his debut after injury his return after injury against the Hawks he’s apparently going to do that in the next game against the Pelicans when smart returns does he take Vince Williams Jr’s starting spot I’ve said it for multiple

Shows in a row I would still start Vince Williams Jr demichel Cole asked Taylor Jens directly after the game is Marcus Smart going to start and take Vince Williams Jr’s role he has him directly kudos to demichel for asking the question Taylor of course did not answer the question he just complimented Vince

Williams Jr’s effort and impact on the game and said how well he’s been playing and they’ll just you know they’ll figure it out or whatever um if they start Marcus Smart it’s fine I mean the lineups will work themselves out um I suggest though again starting Vince still bringing Smart in

Basically soak up those John conchar minutes and maybe take some of the zire minutes and that way Marcus Smart can play with some of the bench players I think it still makes sense where like your main heavy minutes guys are going to be your big three plus Vince still

And Marcus Smart um I would say you could easily bring smart Off the Bench and still have him play 28 29 minutes or so and the main guys who are losing minutes like I think Kar is going to be out of the rotation Kar left this game with a thumb

Injury that makes it a little bit easier uh to make those lineup decisions but even if Kar had not been hurt I’m pretty sure he would have been out of the rotation they would have stuck with Zer because again Zer had another pretty okay game um some ups and downs but the

UPS are so good as far as him being that lob finisher for jaw and positionally I think he makes more sense just with his size um to leave him out there so I assumed is going to be zier staying in the rotation if they they stay with a

Ninan rotation and then Marcus is going to take kar’s minutes again if Marcus starts then I assume just Vince is going to soak up all those conar minutes and then we’ll you know play it from there once Canard comes back and he’s apparently not very far away maybe a

Week or so away then you have some real issues I think at that point you probably maybe start thinking about cutting one of your bigs out of the rotation like you play either Tillman or bismack um and maybe you go to a 10-man rotation but like I think Vince is more

Important to the Grizzlies than Luke Canard is just because of the positional overlap between Canard and smart and Bane I think smart going to get minutes and he’s better than Luke Canard I think the fact that Vince is such a good connective piece such a good rebounder

And such a good Defender you’re going to want him to play instead of Luke Canard at times like Vince is going to take Luke canard’s minutes this is why I’ve basically convinced myself I think we need to try to trade Canard for a center like what’s the best center we could get

For Luke Canard where we don’t even have to attach any assets or anything to it I think that’s a question that uh most of us should be asking ourselves the front office maybe should be asking um themselves but we don’t have to worry about that just yet um by the way tman

Um had some okay moments again he had two blocks and a steel he converted some of his floaters in this game if you combine the tman and biombo stats you know we’re really getting somewhere that’s 14 points 14 rebounds between the two of them so um which one of those

Guys gets the most minutes which one of those guys closes games I assume it’s going to start training back towards Tillman eventually but it hasn’t yet and in this one bismack got the upper hand um with those season High 125 points the Grizzlies tied their season high with 29

Assists set a season high with 50 made field goals one of the good things about the assists I mean yeah you had jaw with 11 but then the rest of them were pretty spread around that’s really good to see Z had three Alama had three uh bomo had

Three so the extra ball movement the extra boost offensively that they’re getting um that’s reflected in those assist numbers I mean they still haven’t had a 30 assist game those were prevalent over the previous couple Seasons so I assume eventually that Grizzly will get back to that level

Alama he did score six points he made a three to extend his career long streak of 22 straight games with a made three-pointer he also threw a pretty sweet alleyoop to jaar where jar was the screener for Santi and then Santi got to deliver the alleyoop to ja I mean everything

With ja it’s kind of incredible how much one guy can just transform a team like I know johnar is one of the best players in the NBA he’s all NBA level guard but from where this team was without him to him just coming back and all of a sudden

It’s like oh everything makes sense now just this one player can really transform everything um it has been delightful to see and I think with that um we can wrap up the episode no reason to go extra long today um the Grizzlies now after Christmas go on this road trip

That looks pretty daunting you have to play at the Pelicans again the Pelicans will be wanting revenge for blowing that 23-point lead and then you play at the World Champ Denver Nuggets you play at the Clippers who have been really good uh recently at least that is until they

Got blown out by the Celtics just I believe that was yesterday but like you have a pretty tough little road trip here after Christmas and that’s where maybe we see exactly where the chrisli are and then you start maybe planning like are we going to make some moves are

We going to try to get another Center do we need to unload laravia or Kar to get Vince Williams Jr on a regular contract I mean Vince can play my understanding is Vince can play Maybe 22 more of the Grizzlies games so he’s been on the active roster through the first 28 games

So that basically gets you to the all-star break and to the trade deadline so something will happen the Grizzlies Will Make A Deal before the trade deadline um to I believe open up a roster spot so they can put Vince Williams Jr on the regular roster anyways thanks so much for supporting

This show all season thanks of course to the people who support me at patreon.com Fastbreak breakfast hope you guys all have some wonderful happy holidays I’ll talk to you soon go Grizz

Desmond Bane had another huge 2nd half and the #Grizzlies rallied to beat the #Hawks and moved to 3-0 with Ja Morant. This episode of Grits and Grinds discusses the victory.

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