Grizzlies use dominant second half to pull away from Mavericks

They had the Memphis Grizzlies in the first half…not gonna lie.

But as Desmond Bane and company have made a habit of doing, an elite third quarter and a continued strong effort in the fourth led to the Grizzlies securing their third straight victory – and their second straight against the Dallas Mavericks. No, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Christian Wood did not play. But after the couple of weeks Memphis has had, no tears will be shed for Dallas.

Any win without Ja Morant, Steven Adams, and Brandon Clarke is a good win. Regardless of who plays.

Some quick takeaways from a much-needed 104-88 win.

Desmond Bane when you need him

Multiple players have stepped up over the last few games – David Roddy continued his strong play, for example, scoring and attacking the rim well. But the best offensive weapon the Memphis Grizzlies have with Ja Morant out is Desmond Bane, and he looked the part against the Mavericks. While flirting with a triple-double, Bane not only made three pointers but also helped clean the glass and create much-needed offense for others. It was a continuation of evidence that Bane is much more than just a shooter, as was the supposed scouting report on him coming out of TCU – just a stone’s throw from the Mavericks arena.

As long as Morant is out, it will be on the shoulders of Bane to carry the main offensive load for Memphis. Thankfully he is capable of doing just that.

Konchar/Kennard confusion

Luke Kennard is far from a perfect player. He struggles at times defensively, appearing either lost, lacking the foot speed to stay in front of most dribble penetration, or perhaps a combination of both. Perhaps that is the logic behind Taylor Jenkins giving more run to John Konchar in this contest than Luke Kennard.

That logic is simply just incorrect.

There are ways to try to hide the issues Kennard has – to his credit, Jenkins did this at times, having Luke defend Dallas stretch bigs that are camped out in the corner. Surely Kennard could stay in front of them…and he did. But Luke Kennard is elite as a shooter, while Konchar is perhaps elite at rebounding.

Except for the fact that in less minutes, Kennard grabbed the same amount of rebounds as Konchar. He also had more assists, and somehow more points (2 to 1) despite less playing time. At least Luke actually took shots as well (5 for Kennard, 2 for Konchar).

Play Luke Kennard more than John Konchar. This should not be that hard. Konchar is not that much better defensively, and on the offensive end Kennard can do more than Konchar can. So let him do those things. Teams respect the shooting of Kennard. They don’t respect Konchar.

Quick Takes

• Jaren remains cold offensively. 2-8 from the field – not the best. More is required of him against teams that will have more fire power than what Memphis saw on Monday night.
• Xavier Tillman Sr. continues to hoop. What a welcome development. With both Adams and Clarke absent for the Grizzlies, Tillman being able to fill some of that production void and not being a negative on the floor is a huge help.

The Memphis Grizzlies are back in action on Wednesday in Miami against the Heat.