One of the most surprising success stories of this season revolves around the Memphis Grizzlies, who are currently 55-24 and in second place in the Western Conference. They are the fourth-youngest team in the league and are led by All-Star point guard Ja Morant, who has been averaging 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists this season.
In the midst of their best season in a long time, tragedy struck the Grizzlies when Morant suffered a knee injury that has sidelined him for eight games so far. Or so it seemed. Despite the loss of their leading scorer and playmaker, the Grizzlies have not slowed down.
How the Memphis Grizzlies have been elite without Ja Morant
They’ve won all but two games since Morant’s injury, relying more on the rest of the starting lineup and backup point guard Tyus Jones. In fact, they are having one of the best runs ever by a team playing without its singular All-Star.
One important reason for this success is that the team is driven to win; they want to win even when, or especially when, the odds are against them. The Grizzlies recover 6.8 loose balls per game, which is significantly more than any other team. Their defense is actually better with backup point guard Tyus Jones on the floor than with Morant, as Chris Herring observed.
The new constellation of players only allows 104.1 points per 100 possessions, compared to 111.2 with Morant in the lineup. Here, they rely heavily on power forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who is one of the league’s leaders in contested shots and a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Furthermore, the backup ball-handlers are a little more careful. The game lacks Morant’s unstoppable speed and explosiveness, but the team averages fewer turnovers. Despite that, the offensive scoring went down about three points in Morant’s absence.
Nevertheless, the Grizzlies still have a strong offense, and now everyone on the roster is getting the opportunity to gather experience and prove what they can really do. Statistics have improved for almost everyone on the team since Morant’s injury, including Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton, and especially Jackson Jr.
The Grizzlies even beat the conference-leading Phoenix Suns 122-114, while Morant, Bane, Jones, Jackson, and starting center Steven Adams were all out due to injuries. The team forced the Suns to 17 turnovers and showed incredible will under the basket. They dominated the game rebounding-wise, especially on offense, nabbing every opportunity for a second chance.
In the absence of several key players, Brooks went off for 30 points and Xavier Tillman, who usually does not see much playing time due to a deep bench, stepped up and had the best game of his season.
With Morant gone, during most of the games, eyes fall especially on Bane, who is in the discussion for winning the Most Improved Player award. On the season, Bane has been averaging 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, all of which have actually gone up since Morant’s injury.
Bane has always been a good shooter but improved his percentage both at the rim (now 66.3%) and from farther away (now 45.8%). Not too long ago, Bane also broke Mike Miller’s franchise record for threes made in a single season.
Since his rookie season, it is safe to say that Bane has become a better ball handler and now takes about 10 percent fewer assisted shots. Hand in hand with that goes the fact that Bane is now averaging more assists than ever before, offering the team more scoring options.
The shooting guard also often slips into the role of point guard when Jones is on the bench, and he does it well, which was an unexpected turn of events for many critics who thought of Bane only a shooter. Bane compliments Morant well when the All-Star is on the court but has also recently proven that he is more than capable of stepping up in his absence in order to help keep the Grizzlies on track during their journey to the playoffs.
Even without Morant, Grizzlies fans can expect to see a rather successful playoff run, but fans, teammates, and coaches will still be glad to see a healthy Ja Morant back on the court sooner rather than later.