Insider Insights: Big Third Quarter Fuels Thunder Win Over Grizzlies

The Grizzlies received a boost with the returns of Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. as they started the game alongside Santi Aldama (return from one-game absence), Luke Kennard, and GG Jackson. Desmond Bane made the first three of the game followed by Jaren Jackson Jr. and Santi Aldama with threes of their own as the Grizzlies led 9-3 early on.

A cold shooting drought followed as the team missed seven of their next eight shot attempts and the Thunder capitalized on it with a 9-2 run to lead 12-11 midway through the first quarter. The teams traded leads for the remainder of the first quarter, ending with the Thunder leading 29-27. The second quarter was much the same as no team led by more than five points and ended with Oklahoma City leading 56-54 at the half.

The Thunder began the third quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 65-57 lead before the Grizzlies responded with a 13-5 run to tie the game at 70 midway through the quarter. That run was short-lived as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got hot and led the Thunder on a 21-8 run to end the third quarter leading 91-78.

The game of runs continued as the Grizzlies opened up the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes from Jake LaRavia and Santi Aldama to fuel an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 91-86 with 10:38 remaining. However, the Grizzlies wouldn’t get closer than four points the rest of the game as the Thunder extended their lead back to 11 points at one point before winning 118-112.

Now for the main takeaway:

The Return of Desmond Bane

Desmond Bane was a welcome site back to the basketball court after missing the team’s last 29 games due to a left ankle sprain suffered on January 12th against the Los Angeles Clippers. Before going out with the ankle sprain, Bane averaged a team-leading and career-high 24.4 points. Also, he averaged a career-high in assists with 5.3 in his first 37 appearances this season.

There have been discussions among the fanbase about whether or not Bane should return this season but his presence on the court is felt in more ways than just worrying about the standings (or reverse standings) and injury risk (which can be said for any player). Desmond Bane provides the Grizzlies with another ball handler and shotmaker who can help develop the younger players who are getting a lot of minutes now.

That’s an important note considering GG Jackson was still a two-way player and only getting end-of-game minutes before Bane’s injury and Scottie Pippen Jr., Trey Jemison, and Jordan Goodwin were not a part of the roster/two-way slots before his injury either. The roster turnover has been immense due to additional injuries, trades, and signings since Bane last played for the Grizzlies.

In his return to the court for the first time in over two months, Desmond Bane led the team in scoring with 22 points and 7 assists on 7-17 shooting (4-9 from three) in nearly 32 minutes of play against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Rust didn’t look like a problem as Bane opened the game making his first basket from three and scored 11 first-half points. Look forward to Desmond Bane returning to form and providing invaluable experience in building chemistry with the young guys for the rest of this season.

Start/Stop/Continue

CONTINUE enabling whatever it took to get the aggressive Santi Aldama that was seen in the first half last night. His game taking a step back this season has been a disappointment, especially coming off his performance in the FIBA World Cup last fall. He has settled for a lot of threes this year instead of using the full arsenal of his offensive game that was shown during the World Cup. Hopefully, last night’s performance was a sign of things to come from him.

Coming Up

The Memphis will hit the road for a four-game west coast trip beginning Monday against the Sacramento Kings at 9:00 PM CST.

Final Quote

“You definitely feel Desmond Bane’s presence out there. Even if he’s not in action or handling the ball he takes his defender out the play because he’s so good.” – GG Jackson