The Memphis Grizzlies were on the brink of elimination against the San Antonio Spurs but found a way to win in a close one.
The game saw strong performances from all of the normal players, including Ja Morant, who stepped up when the game was on the line. They saw a great performance out of Kyle Anderson, who didn’t dazzle anybody on the stat sheet but stepped up as a leader vocally.
More importantly, though, two Grizzlies stepped up in a big way to help their team push one step closer to the NBA Playoffs. Those players are Dillon Brooks and Jonas Valanciunas.
Brooks did what he has done all season long — he clamped up the best player on the opposing team and went on unstoppable scoring runs. The former Oregon Duck showed his killer mentality that is extremely rare among NBA players.
Jonas Valanciunas, on the other hand, did what Jonas Valanciunas does. The Lithuanian center was all over the stat sheet, recording 23 points and 23 rebounds. Essentially, he recorded two double-doubles in the same game.
The Memphis Grizzlies will play against the Golden State Warriors in the next round
As a result of their strong outing against the Spurs, the Grizzlies got the win in their first play-in game. With their win, the Memphis Grizzlies will advance to the next round, where they’ll face the winner of the second game of the night between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.
Either way, the Grizzlies were headed to California.
After a hard-fought battle, the Los Angeles Lakers came out as the winner of that game, meaning the Grizzlies will have to face off against Stephen Curry and company in the next round. After a strong outing against the Spurs, the Grizz will be riding some confidence heading into this game.
The Grizzlies haven’t had a dominating series against the Golden State Warriors in 2021, but they’ve given them a good series thus far. At this point, the Warriors hold a 2-1 advantage on a season series that has been extremely close. Every game thus far has resulted in less than a 13-point margin. This should shape up to be a good game.
The Grizzlies played the Warriors tight in their last matchup a couple of games ago. That said, they couldn’t close out the game after a key performer in Dillon Brooks fouled out of the game.
If the Memphis Grizzlies can continue their recent trend of closing out tight games, they’ll have a good chance of advancing to the NBA Playoffs. At this point, it’s anybody’s game.