Insider Insights: The Grizzlies Finally Win a Home Game, Dominate the Jazz

The Grizzlies had six players score in double figures as they secured their first home win of the season after an 0-8 start.

The Grizzlies made another starting lineup change with Derrick Rose and David Roddy entering the lineup, replacing Jacob Gilyard and Santi Aldama. The change didn’t help spur a fast start as the Grizzlies fell behind 15-7 early. However, the Grizzlies responded with a 15-4 run helped by their bench unit of Jaylen Nowell, Santi Aldama, and Vince Williams Jr., a trio that brought an aggressive defensive energy to the court, narrowing the Jazz lead to just one point (25-24) at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter continued to yield better results as the lineup of Rose, Vince Williams Jr., Ziaire Williams, Santi, and Jaren Jackson Jr. provided the right mix of defensive versatility and scoring ability off the dribble; they began the quarter on a 14-3 run to help the Grizzlies take a 10-point lead at 38-28.

Bismack Biyombo, Desmond Bane, and David Roddy returned to the game with Ziaire and Rose to continue the trend as the Grizzlies extended their run to 24-9 to take a 48-34 lead. Then, David Roddy spearheaded a final 12-8 run for the Grizzlies, hitting two threes (five total) to amass 17 first-half points, to lead the Grizzlies to a 60-42 halftime lead. David Roddy’s 17 first-half points tied his highest full-game total for the season; he finished the game with 19 points.

The third quarter began with a Jaren Jackson Jr. transition block leading to a Desmond Bane three to extend the Grizzlies’ lead to 63-42 before the lights went out at the FedExForum, stopping play for about five minutes. However, that didn’t stop the Grizzlies when they came back on, coasting to an 88-67 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Utah Jazz had one last run in them as they used a 9-0 run to cut a Grizzlies’ 25-point lead down to 16 early in the quarter (and later down to 13 points at 103-90 with two minutes remaining) before the Grizzlies closed it out for their largest win of the season at 105-91.

Now for the main takeaway:

Three-Point Offense and Defense

Yes, we are talking about this again, as the Grizzlies were ranked dead last in the NBA in opponent three-point percentage (40.7%) coming into this third and final matchup against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz, in particular, shot 50% combined in the teams’ two previous matchups this season, making 40 out of 80 attempts and scoring an average of 129 points per game against the Grizzlies.

Additionally, the Grizzlies ranked dead last in the NBA in three-point percentage coming into this matchup, shooting 32.7% as a team. That percentage nearly matches their two previous matchups against the Jazz this season, as those games resulted in the Grizzlies making 33 out of 102 attempts combined for a 32.3% clip.

Needless to say, Utah began this game where it left off the previous two matchups, making three of its first five three-point attempts, which led the Jazz to shoot 5-for-10 from three in the first quarter. The Grizzlies did the same, missing four of their first five attempts on their way to 4-14 shooting from three in the first quarter.

However, the second-quarter unit of Rose, Vince Williams Jr., Ziaire Williams, Santi, and Jaren brought possibly the best defensive presence seen this season from the Grizzlies. They rotated marvelously to run Utah off the three-point line and heavily contested them on their attempts leading to a 3-9 shooting performance from three that knocked their percentage down to 42% for the first half. The Grizzlies utilized their transition opportunities on offense by creating turnovers on defense, which helped lead to open looks as they shot 4-9 from three in the second quarter.

Although the Jazz’s efficiency from three remained high, the effort from the Grizzlies in defending the three was felt, and it showed, as the Grizzlies forced 17 turnovers that led to 23 fast break points. The defensive intensity got dialed up when Jaylen Nowell and Vince Williams Jr. entered the game in the first quarter, and it carried over to the entire team forcing the Jazz to shoot just 16-39 from three. Taylor Jenkins said that he was proud of the effort from Jaylen Nowell, who didn’t get a shot to fall, but continued to flow in the offense and showcase his defensive effort first. Jenkins also mentioned that Vince had showcased an edge on defense and commended his effort on the boards as he finished with eight rebounds.

Start/Stop/Continue

CONTINUE playing the same rotation of Derrick Rose, Desmond Bane, David Roddy, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bismack Biyombo, Jaylen Nowell, Santi Aldama, Vince Williams Jr., and Ziaire Williams until they show you different. Granted, the Utah Jazz are not that far ahead of the Grizzlies in the standings, but there is something to be said about finding something that works and dominating a team that got the best of them in their prior two matchups this season. Rose and Bane combined to dish out 18 assists as the new starting backcourt and the starting frontcourt of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bismack Biyombo combined to block nine shots in an impressive performance on both ends of the court, as they held the Jazz to their season-low in points.

Coming Up

The Grizzlies hit the road for a three-game trip beginning with visiting the newly-owned Dallas Mavericks on Friday at 6:30 PM CST.

Final Quotes

“Every struggle that happens in our lives has a purpose; you just got to learn from it, grow, and try to understand the meaning of it.” – Bismack Biyombo.

“There’s totally more to do, and there’s more coming for sure. It’s going to be a good next month.” – Jaren Jackson Jr.