One month remains before the NBA playoffs begin, and the Memphis Grizzlies continue to be in a solid position, all things considered. The race in the Western Conference is as tight as ever, and the Grizzlies are holding steady at fourth place. Given where they were at a year ago, it is hard to get too pessimistic about where Memphis can go from here.
A nightmare season in 2023-24 was highlighted by Ja Morant missing all but nine games for the Grizz. The team sputtered to just 27 wins and ended up in the lottery. There were plenty of questions about what Memphis' future was as a contender in the West, but now many of those have been answered, as they look to lock up home court advantage in the playoffs once again. There is still much work to be done, but the Grizzlies are back to being a force in the regular season.
Partly as a result of missing so many games last season due to his shoulder injury, Morant has not been quite the same nightly highlight reel that he was a few years ago. A lot of his scoring and shooting numbers are down, and he has also not had to carry as high a usage percentage due to the continued progression of Jaren Jackson Jr. and the emergence of others.
Grizzlies can more heavily utilize Morant's 1-on-1 scoring in playoffs
The isolation scoring plays where Morant takes a defender one-on-one and drives to the hoop are less frequent this season than they were in years past, and that is partly by design. Memphis has been able to create effective offense and win games without having Ja score 30 points a game, and that should be to their credit. But at the same time, this weapon they have is not one they will want to keep stored away forever.
Morant's unique off-the-dribble attack breaks down defenses, and it is something the Grizzlies will likely look to implement more once the playoffs come around. We have seen Ja hunt his own shot more in recent weeks, with a sharp uptick in shot attempts and field goal percentage since the month of March started. He has scored 30 or more in two of Memphis' last three games.
But as we see the postseason arrive, the Grizzlies can begin to really lean into running their offense more through Ja Morant's drives, especially since they have established so much more of a well-rounded attack without utilizing them heavily to this point. It may have been a slower regular season for 12, but expect to see him really turn it on in the playoffs.