Thanks to a two-game winning streak and losses by the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets over the weekend, the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves within one game of the West's number two seed. The Grizzlies' remaining strength of schedule has fallen to seventh in the NBA after a tough slate to begin their post-All-Star break portion.
The team has played its last three games without All-Star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. and is hopeful to have him back soon as he deals with an ankle sprain. As they prepare to continue their winning streak against the Phoenix Suns coming to town for their final matchup, coach Taylor Jenkins has adjusted to what the team needs to be considered a real championship contender this season.
The stars' minutes are increasing
A graphic floated around before the Grizzlies' last-second loss to the New York Knicks on February 28th showing the ranking of starter minutes distribution contrast between the teams. As expected from a team Tom Thibodeau (Knicks coach) coaches, the Knicks ranked first in starter minutes and starter points. They also ranked last in bench minutes and bench points.
While the Grizzlies' minutes distribution between its guys is known, with no one averaging over 30 minutes until recently, that graphic still presented a wake-up call that a team with one of the better starting five units doesn't see much time together. They ranked last in starter minutes, 18th in starter points, and first in both bench minutes and bench points.
However, changes have been made as the Grizzlies have played mostly 10-man and sometimes nine-man rotations in their bigger games since the All-Star break. Cutting the rotation has coincided with an uptick in the minutes of their star players as Ja Morant and Desmond Bane haven't played less than 30 minutes since returning from the All-Star break.
Jaren Jackson Jr. has only played under 30 minutes in the two games he got in severe foul trouble to keep him under the threshold. Since he is out with injury he would be expected to ease back into the high minutes when he returns.
Desmond Bane is currently the only member of the team to average over 30 minutes as he leads the team with 31.4 minutes per game. He has only played less than 35 minutes in three of his last 10 games played as the competition has heated up.
The Grizzlies were always expected to increase the workload of their big three as the playoffs came closer but the distribution of their minutes before the All-Star break caused concern for many that had championship aspirations for the team. Look forward to the team keeping their rotation tight as the fight for the two-seed continues with more suitors.