Memphis Grizzlies: Jonas Valanciunas is proving that he’s an NBA star

The Memphis Grizzlies took a hard loss against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. Rather than blow a lead, the Grizzlies were never able to get out in front of a Pacers team that could not miss a shot against them.

Memphis struggled again from the free-throw line, and unlike in their loss against the Knicks, they couldn’t hit 3-pointers either. It was an all-around poor performance from a Grizzlies team that has no excuse to play that badly.

But in a disappointing game, one player shined.

Memphis Grizzlies C Jonas Valanciunas had arguably the best game of his career

Something that I’ve been preaching all year long is that Jonas Valanciunas has been the best player on this team. Yes, Ja Morant is amazing and will lead this team to success in the future, but in the now, JV has been an elite big man.

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but those who have watched every single Grizzlies game of the season will agree. The veteran center has had the best year of his career and it’s not even close.

When Jaren Jackson Jr. went down, many fans worried that Valanciunas wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of being the only true big man on this team. For a while, it seemed like an inevitability that he would struggle. But instead of struggling, Valanciunas has played at an All-Star level.

The Grizzlies set a new franchise record that directly involves JV on Sunday night. Scratch that, the Grizzlies set two franchise records that directly involved Valanciunas. Those records were points in the paint and second-chance points.

What does Jonas do best? He gets offensive rebounds and finishes in the paint. Specifically, “Lithuanian Lightning” collected 12 offensive rebounds on the night. That’s right, he brought in 22 total rebounds with 12 of them being on the offensive end. It’s completely fair to say that the Grizzlies would not have set this record without him.

Valanciunas also continued his impressive double-double streak, with his 13th double-double happening entirely in the first half of the game. He technically got two double-doubles on Sunday night, scoring 34 points and raking in 22 rebounds.

Hopefully, Jonas Valanciunas can continue his elite play into the Playoff season in a race that just got a lot more interesting after two consecutive Grizzlies losses.