5 promising statistics from Grizzlies’ dominant win over Cavaliers

Stat No. 5: The Memphis Grizzlies recorded a dominating 70 points in the paint

I could talk for days about the Grizzlies’ rebounding and Steven Adams’ ability to plug into the system. That said, there’s a single stat that, at least to me, stands above the rest when it comes to the Grizzlies’ season opener.

That stat revolves around points in the paint. Actually, it is points in the paint.

You saw it in the title above — the Grizzlies scored 70 points in the paint on the night. This is another statistic that may not mean much to some fans, so I’ll give you a frame of reference here. The leading NBA team last season scored just 55.8 points in the paint — over 14 short of the Grizzlies’ total of 70 the other night.

Can you guess who led the league in this stat last year? That’s right, it was the Memphis Grizzlies.

Taylor Jenkins’ squad got off to another hot start in this category in 2021, scoring the highest opening night points in the paint total of any team in the league by a wide margin. The closest anybody came to the Grizzlies’ 70 points was the Miami Heat, who had 60 on the night.

Even though some may say that Grizz basketball relies too much on inside scoring in a modern NBA, it seems to work. Heck, maybe teams are so preoccupied with defending the perimeter that they don’t know what to do against an old-fashioned team like Memphis.

I don’t know why it works, but quite frankly, I don’t care. If it keeps getting Memphis wins, you won’t find me complaining.