3 Memphis Grizzlies who need to step up before Jaren Jackson Jr.’s return

Dillon Brooks needs to continue his strong play for the Memphis Grizzlies

I guess the proper verbiage here would be to say that Dillon Brooks needs to continue to step up in Jaren Jackson Jr.’s absence. The 25 year old small forward has been playing his best basketball of the season in the past few games.

He had a quiet second game against the Utah Jazz, but in his last three performances prior to that, he was averaging over 23 points per contest. This stretched gave the Grizzlies a 2-1 record, beating the Celtics and Thunder, losing to the Jazz in a close one.

Most notably though, he stepped up in a huge way for the Grizzlies in their close loss against the Jazz. Despite a large 4th quarter deficit, this team fought back against the best team in the league. Led by Brooks, the Grizzlies were a shot away from taking the NBA’s best squad to overtime.

They’d lose badly in game two, but we learned about this team’s ceiling in the first matchup.

If the Grizzlies want to stay afloat, this team will need strong performances out of Brooks. He has shown that he can be this team’s second scoring option if Morant is having an off day and will play a huge role in this team’s playoff chances.