On the road again was no problem for the Memphis Grizzlies as they ended Atlanta’s four game winning streak on the Hawks’ home court at Philips Arena on Wednesday night.
The 131-113 defeat of Atlanta was the Grizzlies’ third consecutive road win and their fourth straight win in a recent surge. Memphis (26-23) is 14-9 on the road this season.
Tuesday night in Philadelphia, the third quarter belonged to Dillon Brooks, who scored 23 of his 28 points in the frame. Wednesday night, Grayson Allen branded the quarter, scoring 18 of his season-high 30 points.
“There was a stretch where I had three threes in a few minutes,” Allen said. “The coolest part about this team is it was DB (Brooks) last night and guys were looking for him and calling plays for him and the same thing happened tonight.”
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said, “They did a great job of finding him (Allen) and he’s starting to adjust to the new coverages he is getting. He works on all that.”
Up by three (67-64) at halftime, Memphis outscored the Hawks 43-23 to pull away in the third quarter. Ja Morant had 14 points in the quarter en route to 19 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. In the last four games Morant has been shooting over 40 percent from behind the three-point line.
“It was two big wins for us against two good teams,” said Morant of the consecutive wins against Miami and the Hawks (27-25). “It shows we can compete with the best in the league and win games. It gives me a lot of confidence. It shows we have some scorers on this team.”
The Grizzlies had 30 assists in a game that did not start well for them. Memphis fell behind 25-11 early but battled back to seize the halftime lead. Defense was the key to the comeback in the second quarter and the third-quarter push. Memphis controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Hawks 43-31.
“Good defense gets us going,” said Jonas Valanciunas, who continued his dominance from the center position with 19 points and 11 rebounds. “It is fun to play with defense to get stops that leads to fast breaks. It makes it way easier.”
He broke a Grizzlies record with 19 straight games with double-digits rebounds. It was also his 19th consecutive game with a double-double. He has the longest active such streak in the NBA.
Brooks had another efficient game. He scored 17 points on only nine shots, connecting on three of five from three-point range. He contributed mightily to slowing down Hawks All-Star Trea Young, who had 14 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the way for Atlanta with 24 points.
NEXT AND NOTES:
- Allen on the play of the Grizzlies’ bench: “They came in and played really hard. There were back-to-back possessions where guys were diving on the floor. That was huge for our energy. Everyone responded.”
- Memphis and Atlanta split the season series with each winning on the road.
- Memphis has been feasting (14-6) on the Eastern Conference.
- The Grizzlies end their four-game road stretch against the New York Knicks on Friday (April 9). The game is set for a 6 p.m. CDT.
- For the second consecutive game, Memphis has taken the court without three rotation players: Brandon Clarke, DeAnthony Melton and Justice Winslow.
