Memphis Grizzlies Blog – Page 7 – NBA Blog

Warriors continue to lose road games, fall to Grizzlies

Dillon Brooks was driving to the rim while Draymond Green, the Golden State Warrior who publicly told the world that Brooks is holding the Memphis Grizzlies back, was waiting.

Brooks went into the body of Green and finished a layup with his left hand as the FedExForum crowd screamed while the two elite defenders stood face to face.

Brooks got the better of the face-off, and his team got the advantage in the matchup. The Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 131-110 at FedExForum on Thursday night.

Memphis (39-26) spent most of the night leading by double digits. Each of the five Grizzlies starters scored in double figures, led by 22 points from Tyus Jones. Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 21 points apiece.

The Grizzlies remained without the services of Ja Morant and Steven Adams in this contest.

Dillon Brooks suspended, Donovan Mitchell fined

Memphis Grizzlies guard-forward Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has been fined $20,000 for their roles in an on-court altercation, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

After missing a layup and falling to the floor, Brooks initiated the altercation by striking Mitchell in the groin area in an unsportsmanlike manner. Mitchell then escalated the situation by throwing the game ball at and pushing Brooks, after which both players continued to physically engage with one another.

Brooks was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, and Mitchell was given a technical foul and ejected.

The incident occurred with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter of the Cavaliers’ 128-113 victory over the Grizzlies on Feb. 2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Brooks will serve his suspension Sunday, Feb. 5 when the Grizzlies play host to the Toronto Raptors.

Grizzlies center Steven Adams injured, out with PCL sprain in right knee

Memphis Grizzlies center Steven Adams has been diagnosed with a PCL sprain in his right knee, which was sustained during the January 22 game against the Phoenix Suns.

Adams is expected to be sidelined 3-5 weeks.

Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “the injury was suffered on the last play of Sunday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns. Adams didn’t play Monday against the Sacramento Kings due to knee soreness but was seen limping as he left the locker room following the Grizzlies’ loss.”

Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane close to return

Via the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

The Memphis Grizzlies could get an early Christmas present as Desmond Bane was upgraded to questionable on Thursday ahead of the team’s matchup at the Phoenix Suns Friday (9 p.m., Bally Sports Southeast/ESPN).

Bane has missed 17 games since being out with a sprained right toe suffered on Nov. 11. On Dec. 7, the Grizzlies said he’d miss at least three-to-four additional weeks as he began a gradual re-loading protocol.

The Grizzlies are 19-11 this season, which ties them with the Denver Nuggets for the best record in the Western conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2022-23 are Ja Morant at 27.0 PPG, Bane at 24.7 PPG, Dillon Brooks at 18.0 PPG, and Jaren Jackson Jr. at 16.4 PPG.

A glance at Grizzlies bench performance

Via the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Jaren Jackson Jr.’s eight blocks may have deflected your attention away from what else was happening while the Memphis Grizzlies blew out the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

Tyus Jones had 22 points and 11 assists in three quarters while dropping off a nifty bounce pass into the hands of Xavier Tillman Sr. John Konchar threw a no-look transition pass to Dillon Brooks that would have been impressive even by Ja Morant’s standards. Kennedy Chandler got the entire Grizzlies bench on its feet when he threw down a dunk near the end of the first quarter, and Santi Aldama just quietly poured in 16 points.

A lot of talk has been about how the starting lineup will look when healthy, but what about the bench? Several expected key contributors had big games on Monday night, and that’s almost as encouraging as the wait to see the full starting five.

“We’re deep,” Tillman said. “It’s a real 15 deep. Nobody’s role is too extreme to where we need them to do more than they’re capable of.” …

Memphis has the 25th bench net rating in the NBA. The unit has been outscored by 249 points through 17 games. The Grizzlies had the sixth best bench net rating last season

FULL ARTICLE

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant fined by NBA

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been fined $35,000 for confronting and directing inappropriate language toward a game official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

Morant was assessed a technical foul and ejected with 1:22 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ 109-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 30 at Target Center.

Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Morant is currently tied for ninth in the NBA with four technical fouls this season.”

Ja Morant may return sooner than expected for Grizzlies

Via the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Ja Morant may be healing at a faster rate than anticipated.

The Memphis Grizzlies updated Morant to questionable ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings. Morant was initially listed as doubtful on Monday.

He’ll undergo testing ahead of the game to determine if he will be able to play.

Morant injured his left ankle on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team announced that he suffered a grade 1 ankle sprain and would be evaluated week-to-week.

FULL ARTICLE

Desmond Bane scoring big for Grizzlies so far this season

Desmond Bane is putting up 24.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for the Grizzlies this season. Here’s the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

The barrage started with one of those 3-pointers only the best shooters make look easy, the type of 3-pointer that helped introduce Desmond Bane to Memphis Grizzlies fans when he first arrived two years ago.

He curled around a Steven Adams screen, caught a pass from John Konchar, turned over his right shoulder to square his body to the basket, set his feet on the left wing, and drilled a shot from three feet beyond the arc.

Bane, as it turned out, was only beginning, and the implications of that go well beyond a Wednesday night in Portland during the opening weeks of the season.

There has been no more important development for these Grizzlies through eight games than Bane’s latest evolution. It’s how they beat Portland, and how they closed out their first West Coast road trip with a 2-2 record. It’s how they’ve survived their early spate of injuries and ailments, maybe even more than those extraordinary Ja Morant performances.

We knew to expect that from Morant. We didn’t know yet how much better his sidekick would be.

FULL ARTICLE

Grizzlies sign Brandon Clarke to contract extension

The Memphis Grizzlies have signed forward/center Brandon Clarke to a multi-year contract extension.

Clarke’s Grizzlies deal is reportedly a four-year, $52 million contract extension.

Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Clarke’s deal lines up to recent rookie scale extensions for comparable big men. Boston Celtics center Robert Williams recently signed a four-year deal worth $54 million, and Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter four-year deal for $50 million in 2021.”

Clarke (6-7 ¾, 210) appeared in 64 games (one start) and averaged 10.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and a career-high 1.06 blocks in 19.5 minutes while shooting 64.4 percent from the field last season, his third with Memphis since he was acquired by the Grizzlies from the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 21st overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The 26-year-old increased his averages to 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 24.7 minutes in 12 games during the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Memphis registered the second-best record in the NBA during the 2021-22 regular season at 56-26, which tied the franchise record and earned the Grizzlies the Southwest Division championship, the first division title in franchise history. Clarke helped the Grizzlies’ bench lead all NBA second units last season in rebounds and blocks.

A native of Vancouver who finished his collegiate career at Gonzaga University, Clarke has played 181 career games (21 starts) and has averaged 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.9 minutes for the Grizzlies. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (.613).

Grizzlies waive Killian Tillie and Dakota Mathias

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived forward/center Killian Tillie and wing Dakota Mathias to finalize their opening night roster for the 2022-23 regular season.

The Grizzlies will tip-off the 2022-23 regular season against the New York Knicks at 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at FedExForum. The regular season opener will be televised regionally on Bally Sports Southeast and nationally on ESPN.

Tillie (6-10, 220) appeared in 54 games (four starts) in two seasons with the Grizzlies and averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.9 minutes. Unselected in the 2020 NBA Draft out of Gonzaga University, the 24-year-old native of France originally was signed by the Grizzlies on a two-way contract and was converted to a standard NBA contract on Jan. 1, 2022.

Mathias (6-4, 200), signed by Memphis on Oct. 14, has appeared in 14 games (six starts) in two seasons with the Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers and has averaged 3.9 points and 1.0 assists in 9.9 minutes. Undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Purdue University, the 27-year-old Ohio native also has competed professionally for the NBA G League’s Texas Legends and in Spain for the ACB’s Joventut Badalona.