The Grizzlies beat the Nets 132-120 showing their team talent. Nash’s star duo doesn’t disappoint, but the rest of the team is missing
On a 78-point duo show night, with every shot from any position and in any condition that just seems destined to make it into the basket, two like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant usually knock anyone out. Not the Memphis Grizzlies, not even if superstar Ja Morant is sitting in plain clothes watching from the bench. Because Tyler Jenkins’ team is special: so special that they reached the 50th win of the season with 132-120 at home to the Nets (23 defeats). So special that he almost seems to play better (15 wins in 17 games) when the phenomenal of him is out. No, Memphis is no better without Morant: he plays freer, with a greater desire to prove what he’s worth. The Grizzlies are worth a lot, and it is no coincidence that they are the team with the second best record. But Brooklyn (38-35) also holds. Especially now that he is about to catch up with Kyrie full time.
The roar of the Grizzlies
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“Ja is the superstar, but behind him are at least 10 players with the potential to be starters on any team” is Durant’s photograph of Memphis. the win over Brooklyn proved just that: how deep the Grizzlies are. Seven players in double figures, 52 points from the bench, the ability to react to the spells of two phenomena such as KD and Irving, 19 triples sent to target. “Unity of purpose and understanding: I repeat it often, but these are always our trump cards – says Jenkins, with his twenty thousand words per minute gab that seems so much like the frenzied rhythm of his Grizzlies against Brooklyn – I think the boys have fun to be part of this team, that when someone is out they want to give more for him too. There is an understanding between us both on and off the pitch that will be important not only for the present, but also for the future ”. With Brooklyn, many made the difference in turn. De’Anthony Melton with 12 points in the first quarter, Dillon Brooks with the defense on Durant, Desmond Bane with the triples in the fourth period for the definitive extension, Brandon Clarke with the commitment under the basket. Memphis is building something special, and continues to prove it whenever it gets a chance.
A gift for Kyrie
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The Nets do not want to comment, but the best gift has arrived before the game, with the indiscretion that today the Mayor of New York Eric Adams will remove the vaccination requirement that has so far prevented Irving from playing home games. He could make his Barclays Center debut as early as Sunday against Charlotte. “We all know how he plays, how the team changes: we hope to have good news,” says Durant with a smile. Kyrie was also outstanding in Memphis, with 43 points and a collection of heavy baskets. Like those of KD, who adds 11 rebounds and 8 assists to 35 points, arriving however a bit in debt of energy in the final. “We have run out of petrol – admits coach Nash -. We started badly, we recovered but in the end we didn’t have any more ”. It would have been a major win for the Nets, their seventh in 8 games. It does not change the prospects: getting Kyrie back, reaching 20 games of the season and available for the last 9, gives Brooklyn one of the two pillars on which he is built. And the certainty that the playoff race that would start today from the Play-In can still be long.
The match
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Melton is the main reason why the Grizzlies get to the siren 40-32 ahead, the triples are the reason why the hosts’ lead is expanded to 18 points in the mid-quarter. Brooklyn reacts and arrives at the interval under 76-62, then in the second half changes gear dragged by Durant (14 points in the third period) and Irving (11) and overtakes arriving at the third siren ahead 104-103. Memphis levels up in defense in the fourth quarter and only concedes 16 points to the Nets, while Clarke and Bane’s triples dig a new rut from which the guests are no longer able to get out.
Memphis: Bane 23 (2/7 of two, 6/10 of three, 1/1 free throws), Melton 23 (2/3, 6/10, 1/1 tl), Brooks 21. Rebounds: Adams 11. Assists: Jones 10.
Brooklyn: Irving 43 (9/16, 6/11, 7/7 tl), Durant 35, Drummond 15. Rebounds: Durant 11. Assists: Durant 8, Irving 8.
March 24 – 07:42
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