Memphis Grizzlies collect win number 14 against Los Angeles

The Memphis Grizzlies entered Monday night’s game MLK game with a lot of raw emotion, and it showed throughout in a win.

From the beginning of the day, the emotion was jacked up with all of the Martin Luther King Jr. events throughout the day. Honoring James Worthy, Penny Hardaway, Swin Cash, and Sam Perkins. All of that emotion translated into the Grizzlies on court performance.

To tell you how the night began, Memphis had six assists on their first six made shots. The offense was flowing early, and so many players stepped up. In turn, guys like Tyreke Evans and Marc Gasol finally looked like they could play the game they loved again freely.

I summarized every player that had minutes tonight for the Grizzlies in their win below.

Starters

Dillon Brooks: He started with three quick buckets in the first quarter, two of which were 3’s. Although, Brooks struggled on Caldwell-Pope, he had a pretty good first quarter. His defense progressively got better throughout the night. He finished his night going 6-8 from the field and 4-5 from three, scoring a career-high 19 points.

Marc Gasol, of course, played pretty well in the first quarter on offense, but his defense seems to be coming around. He seemed to play a little more freely with other guys making shots, and it took some defense pressure off of him on offense. Big Spain scored 17 points on 6-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.

Tyreke Evans was the reason the Grizzlies were so fluid offensively. Deferring throughout the game helped other guys get open shots. I think Evans is learning that he can create open shots for other teammates just like he can for himself. He didn’t score a point in the first half, and the Grizzlies led by double-digits at that point. Evans finished a rebound shy of a triple double (15 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds).

JaMychal Green didn’t really do much.

Bench

Deyonta Davis lacks overall basketball IQ, but knows a lot about the pick-and-roll which gets him easy points. Problem with that is that sometimes he has to catch the bounce pass, and he lacks good hands. His first quarter tonight featured a smile. Beginning the second quarter, Davis was a force, showing where he was supposed to be on the court. Davis finished with 10 points five rebounds and five big blocks like the one below.

Harrison had a quiet first quarter. Being the game manager has fit Harrison’s game really well, and he’s learning every game when to take his shots. He had three points after one quarter. Harrison had a very quiet game overall, but had an impact defensively. He finished with eight points, three assists and three rebounds in 26 minutes.

Wayne Selden continues to make a case for being the best two-guard on this team, starting his night with a 3. His defensive play is something to really watch, as he’s wise beyond his years on the defensive end. You could see moments throughout the game where Selden is trying to get his legs back from the quad injury. He finished with 13 points in 13 minutes of play, shooting 3-6 from the field.

Chalmers continues to be hot and cold. Questionable play choices have hurt his floor time, but he played a solid first quarter. Then Chalmers opened up the second quarter with a deep 3-ball. He made some nice cuts throughout the game, but continues to make questionable plays late in the shot clock. Mario finished with seven points, one assist and four rebounds in 19 minutes.

Jarell Martin entered for JaMychal Green in the middle of the first quarter and played really well. He also had a nice slam late in the first.

Martin continued his strong play later into the game, playing good defense and running the floor well in transition. He seems to play really well when the game is up-tempo. Martin finished with 10 points on 4-5 shooting and three rebounds.

James Ennis entered to help contain Caldwell-Pope who started with 10 first quarter points. In about six minutes, Ennis held Caldwell-Pope to two points. His defense continues to be the reason he gets court time, getting a huge block in the first on Larry Nance Jr in the first a forcing havoc defensively. Ennis continues to be an X-Factor for the Grizzlies’ bench unit. He played lights out tonight, amassing 13 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and three rebounds.

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Overall, Memphis finished shooting 51.2 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Lakers by four. The Grizzlies played great basketball from the tip, which handed them their 14th win on the season and first back-to-back home game wins in months. Another successful Martin Luther King day for the city of Memphis.