Still playing in the shadow and shock of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death on Sunday, the Memphis Grizzlies took to the floor against the current No. 3 seed, the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. The Grizzlies’ schedule from here on out is laden with playoff-caliber teams, and this game was a chance to see how the young cubs would fare.
The result? A 104-96 wire-to-wire win – and the third win on a new win streak for the rapidly maturing Grizzlies.
“Very solid win by our group,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. “(Denver) just kept firing, kept firing, kept coming, kept coming. Made some big shots but we just kind of withstood those runs.”
Dillon Brooks led Memphis with 24 points, followed by Jonas Valanciunas’ 23 points and 12 boards. Ja Morant had 14 points, seven assists and four steals. As fans have come to enjoy and expect every time he plays, Morant provided another “Ja-dropping moment” – this time when he drove baseline under the basket, reversed direction with a behind-the-back dribble and double clutched a scoop layup over three Denver defenders:
https://youtu.be/CvUVRpcq-Gw?t=14
Later in the locker room, Morant had fun describing the play:
.@JaMorant breaking down Ja Morant highlights.
(turn your sound on) #GrzNxtGen pic.twitter.com/2CVxd6MQgT
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 29, 2020
Next up for the Grizzlies: Morant makes his Madison Square Garden debut as the Grizzlies hit the Big Apple to take on the New York Knicks. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. CT.
