In an interview that aired on ESPN last week, Ja Morad he claimed to be studying the Boston Celtics, thinking his Memphis Grizzlies they will have to face them on the way to the title. “Anyone in the Western Conference?”Malika Andrews asked, to which Morant responded “No, I’m fine in the West”.
So Morant and his Grizzlies were leading the West, but he still seemed to be a overly expected and arrogant statement from the star of a team that won just once in the playoffs in Ja’s three previous years in the NBA (4-2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2022 first round), though Memphis’ good play justified some confidence in himself.
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Now, after the Christmas loss to Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry and another one tough fall against some Phoenix Suns without Devin Bookerthis sentence creates noise again.
As John Schuhmann noted on Twitter, The Grizzlies have a losing record against Western Conference teams this season: 9 wins and 10 losses. Of the games played between the nine teams from the West with over 50% wins in the regular season, currently contenders for the playoffs, Memphis has the third-worst record: 4-7 with -38 points difference.
Here are the records in games played among the 9 West teams that are currently over .500.
(Sacramento has played 19 of its 32 games against the Eastern Conference.)
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Morad, who is averaging 27.1 points and 7.8 assists per game on 45 percent shooting from the field, see their number remain on scale in 10 appearances against the West’s top opponents (he did not play in a loss to the Utah Jazz) with 27.3 points and 5.3 assists on 46.3% shooting from the field.
One of the problems for the Grizzlies isn’t Ja, but how their defense breaks down on these drives: the team received 113 points or more in two games against Utah, one against Dallas, one against Phoenix, another against New Orleans and another against Sacramento: lost all those matchesfour of them by ten points or more.
At the same time, only three were kept below 107 degrees: beat Portland and Phoenix with it but lost to Denver.
In the few games he played Desmond Bain, Memphis is 2-4 against those West opponents. The shooting guard’s numbers do drop when comparing those against Eastern opponents to those in his conference: from 24 points and 48.9% on field goals to 21.6 points and 40.4%. Something similar happens with Jaren Jackson Jr.: from 17.3 points and 53.6% from the field to 15.2 points and 46.7% from the field.
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Having only played 40% of the regular season, Those numbers are nothing to worry about for Memphisbut the last defeats should have come in time calm an excess of confidence in a team that looks like it has a great future but has yet to win anything and now they’re actually closer to falling to fifth in the West than returning to the top of the conference.
Before considering the Boston Celtics, who they have lost to this season as well (a 109-106 loss at home), the Grizzlies need to address their most pressing issues. This weekend will be a good test for that, me games with New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
Nine regular season games took place in the NBA on the night of December 26-27.
Utah hosted the Eastern Conference leader and won a sensational victory.
The first half of the match was spent with a small lead for the Pistons, who kept their opponent one or two shots away most of the time and entered the long break with a 1-point lead at 68:67. The decisive factor in the match was the third quarter; In this quarter, Jazz made a 16:3 move and took the lead by 12 points, 90:78. The home team had the advantage in the score, but Detroit gradually reduced the gap and 19 seconds before the siren, after two free throws by Cunningham, they equalized the score – 129:129. However, the match did not go to overtime – Utah took advantage of the remaining time with the efforts of George, who scored a two-pointer 3 seconds before the siren – 131:129.
Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk He stayed on the field for 21 minutes and recorded 9 points (3/4 two-pointers, 1/2 three-pointers), as well as 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
The most productive player was George, who scored 31 points for Utah, while Nurkic had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
orlando: Black (24), Carter (16 + 8 rebounds), Bane (15 + 10 rebounds), Banchero (13), Jones (8) – start; Richardson (14) and Silva (8), Kane (5), Isaac (2), Howard (0), Penda (0), O. Robinson (0).
Charlotte: Ball (22 + 7 rebounds + 6 for loss), Knippel (16), Bridges (16 + 11 rebounds), Miller (15), Diabate (10 + 13 rebounds) – start; Hall (14 + 8 rebounds), Sexton (13), Hall (7), Green (6), Connaughton (1), James (0), Mann (0).
Chicago – Philadelphia – 109:102 (30:28, 19:24, 32:33, 28:17)
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
On the evening of December 25 and the night of December 26, five Christmas games were traditionally held as part of the NBA regular season.
The most important match of the match day was played in Oklahoma, where the Thunder hosted San Antonio.
The home team started the game better and were ahead for most of the first quarter, but they missed a move 0:11 into the quarter, allowing Spurs to take the lead 41:36. Oklahoma was unable to take the lead after that, but San Antonio maintained its lead by keeping the game under control and eventually won 117-102.
The Spurs have won all three games against the Thunder this season, while Oklahoma has lost just two of the other 28 games.
The most productive player of the match was Fox, who brought 29 points to San Antonio, while Vembanyama also scored a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers played Houston at home and suffered a crushing defeat.
The fate of the match was decided in the first quarter, when the Rockets won by 12 points (25:37). Afterwards, they increased their advantage by completely controlling the course of the match and eventually won with a score of 119:96.
For Houston, Thompson scored 26 points and Shengyun had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Denver and Minnesota closed out game day.
The first half of the match ended in a draw. Neither team managed to take a lead of more than 9 points, and Denver entered the big break with a 2-point lead at 57:55. In the third quarter, the Nuggets made an attack of 6:0 at the beginning and 10:2 in the middle, reaching a 16-point lead, and at the end of the quarter they were ahead +15 – 90:78. The Timberwolves did not give up and made a 16:2 move midway through the fourth quarter, reaching a lead of 107:108. This gave fans a tense ending; Edwards hit a three-pointer 2 seconds before the siren, sending the game into overtime at 115:115. And there Jokic played a decisive role and scored 18 points in 5 minutes, allowing the Nuggets to win 142:138.
Jokic scored 56 points in the NBA on Christmas Day, falling just four shy of Bernard King’s record. Nikola also recorded a triple-double with 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Murray had a double-double with 35 points and 10 assists.
NBA. Regular season. Christmas Day, 25-26 December
New York – Cleveland – 126:124 (23:38, 37:20, 24:38, 42:28)
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
14 games of the NBA regular season were played on the night of December 23-24.
“Utah” hosted “Memphis” and in the middle of the second quarter they were ahead by 15 points at 50:65, but then they made a move at 17:4 and returned to the match 67:69. In the third quarter, the Jazz managed to take the lead with 71:69 and the game was leveled, but the Grizzlies added points at the end of the quarter and took the lead again with 109:101 and then calmly maintained the advantage with 137:128.
Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk The player, who was in Utah’s top 5 and played 22 minutes, recorded 9 points (4/4 free throws, 1/4 two-pointers, 1/5 three-pointers), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul.
The most productive player of the match was Aldama, who scored 37 points for Memphis, while Spencer also recorded a double-double, adding 11 points and 13 assists.
In the main match of game day, San Antonio unexpectedly defeated Oklahoma.
During the three quarters, there was an even contest in which no team could gain a lead of more than 8 points, and the leader changed 16 times. The fate of the match winner was decided in the fourth quarter, and the 9:0 attack of the home team was effective in this, and then the advantage reached 12 points (98:86). San Antonio then controlled the course of the game and confidently cruised to victory, gaining an advantage of 130:110.
The top scorer of the winning team was Johnson, who scored 25 points, while Castle scored 24 points for Spurs.
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
