Memphis Grizzlies: Grayson Allen drops 30 in blowout win at Atlanta Hawks
The Memphis Grizzlies have been playing the best basketball of their season, extending their winning streak to four games. Since beating the Minnesota Timberwolves at home, Memphis has taken full control of a brutal road trip, defeating three winning teams along the way.
The most recent victim was the Atlanta Hawks, a team that the Grizzlies were expected to have a tough time against. Combining lethal 3-point shooting from the Hawks with a back-to-back and a handful of Grizzlies injuries will generally not lead to a win.
But the Grizzlies didn’t care.
After falling behind early, Memphis surged back and took control of the game. Oftentimes we’ll see this Grizzlies team get a win on the back of a strong bench performance — that was not the case on Wednesday night.
The Memphis Grizzlies dominated the Atlanta Hawks with help from Grayson Allen
It’s hard to point the finger at any individual player, but Grayson Allen really showed up for the Grizzlies on Wednesday night. He had shown flashes of brilliance all season and stepped up above the rest of a starting lineup that all scored over 16 points apiece.
Allen is known as a lethal shooter, but his long-range efforts were arguably the worst part of his game against the Hawks. Despite a forgettable shooting night, he found ways to score in every facet of the game.
Most notably, he was playing with extreme aggressiveness, taking the ball into the paint and drawing fouls all night long. He took a 3-9 three-point shooting night and turned it into a 10-18 overall shooting performance.
He reached the free-throw line eight times, more than twice the amount of any other player for the Memphis Grizzlies. He’d knock down seven of his shots from the charity stripe.
Overall, he finished the performance with 30 points and a +20 in the (+/-) category. Clearly, he was having a huge impact out on the court and helped lead the Grizzlies to an early blowout. This gave the Grizzlies’ key contributors important rest time near the end of the game.
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Hopefully, we’ll see more performances like this out of the former Duke Blue Devil, but for now, we can be happy with what we’ve seen out of him in 2021.