The Memphis Grizzlies have had an up and down season. I don’t say that lightly either — they’ve looked terrible on some days and elite on others.
Against the Heat on Wednesday, we saw the Grizzlies that looked like they could be a contender for an NBA Title, even without Jaren Jackson Jr. Offensively, they had their struggles, but they played elite defense against a really good Miami Heat team.
As per usual for the Grizzlies, we saw their youth come into play when they almost blew a late lead that they worked so hard for. They wouldn’t squander it this time though.
The Grizz closed out the game thanks to excellent play from Ja Morant and, more surprisingly, De’Anthony Melton.
The young guard showed why he signed a 4-year, $34 million contract and saved this Grizzlies team from another potentially embarrassing loss.
The Memphis Grizzlies bounced back at the right time to snap a 3-game skid
You just had a feeling that this team would win this game. Somehow, after a heartbreaking loss to the Nuggets, an embarrassing loss against the Thunder, and a blowout loss at the Suns, it just felt like they would beat the Heat.
That’s not a knock against the Heat, either. Miami was in the NBA Finals last year for a reason and their roster stayed almost entirely intact. The Grizzlies didn’t show up to play against another G-League team as they had against the Thunder.
This was real competition. Playoff competition.
That’s just the thing about this Memphis team. You know they have it in them to beat any team in the league, but you don’t know which Grizzlies you’re going to get on any given day. One day it’s one of the worst teams in the league and the next day it’s one of the best.
The offense still wasn’t there, but Taylor Jenkins got just enough out of every player on the team. De’Anthony Melton had been quiet lately, but stepped up with one of the best games of his career.
Ja Morant didn’t do much the entire day, but made a play in the clutch.
The Grizzlies issue thus far has been consistency, but if this team can play like they did on Wednesday consistently, they’ll be one of the best teams in the league, no question about it.