Grizzlies: 3 positive takeaways after bounce back win against Thunder

Players stepping up for Morant

Something that is key for any winning basketball team is a good surrounding cast for its star player. In this case, Morant is the star player. When this player has a bad game, the surrounding cast has the key role of stepping up in their absence.

And as I’ve said, Morant did not shoot well against the Thunder. He only made four shots and scored about half of his points from the charity stripe. Generally speaking, this would translate to a loss for the Grizzlies, but there were a few guys who stepped up and helped guide this team to victory.

Most notably, we saw 22 points from Jonas Valaciunas and Grayson Allen. The big surprise here wasn’t Valanciunas, it was Allen. With the absence of Desmond Bane, the former Blue Devil played 32 minutes last night. Allen once again showed that he can be deadly from the 3-point line, creating his own shot and draining open buckets.

Valanciunas, on the other hand, took care of things down low. This didn’t come as a surprise, as he has been extremely reliable all year on an injury-ridden team. But beyond the scoring, the number that stuck out for the Lithuanian center was his rebounding total. Specifically, he hauled in 5 offensive rebounds on the night, making way for a number of second chances for his team.

If the players around Morant continue to play well, this could be a dangerous team come playoff time.