Insider Insights: Grizzlies Defeat the Warriors to Win Their 4th Straight on MLK Day

Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson both scored career highs with 24 and 23 points, respectively, to lead the Grizzlies to a 116-107 win over the Golden State Warriors.

The Grizzlies began the game with their 22nd different starting lineup of the season as Jaren Jackson Jr. returned to the lineup after missing Saturday’s game and Ziaire Williams replaced David Roddy for his 9th start of the season and first since November 8th. Vince Williams Jr., Luke Kennard, and Xavier Tillman remained in the starting five from their previous game against the New York Knicks.

The Warriors began the game leading 5-0 before Jaren Jackson Jr. spearheaded a 10-2 run to help the Grizzlies gain an early 10-7 advantage. Then after a made three from Vince Williams Jr. to put the Grizzlies up 13-9, the Warriors responded with a 10-0 which included a return to the court off the bench from Draymond Green who made a three during that run after missing the Warriors last 16 games.

The Warriors went on to shoot 52% for the quarter and led by as many as 9 points to lead 29-23 at the end of the first quarter. Although the Grizzlies shot 31.8% in the first quarter, shooting 6-7 from the free throw line and holding the Warriors to 3-12 shooting from three kept them within striking distance.

Then GG Jackson got hot and scored 11 of the Grizzlies’ first 13 points of the second quarter to help them tie the score at 36 with a little over 8 minutes remaining until the half. Jacob Gilyard followed with a three after the timeout as the Grizzlies regained the lead at 39-36 before Steph Curry returned to the game for the Warriors and spearheaded another 10-0 to retake the lead at 46-39.

However, Jaren Jackson Jr. returned to the game and he along with David Roddy and Santi Aldama combined to score the Grizzlies’ last 15 points of the quarter as they only trailed 56-54 at halftime. GG Jackson led the Grizzlies with 14 points and 3 rebounds at halftime as his spark off the bench helped keep the Warriors from running away with the game early in the second quarter.

swervin like he on da ice outside🥶 @droddy22 pic.twitter.com/eTMtyswTZc

— Grind City Media (@grindcitymedia) January 16, 2024

The teams began the second half trading leads throughout the first five minutes until Golden State used a 10-1 run to flip a 67-64 deficit into a 74-68 lead. The Grizzlies again refused to allow Golden State to pull away as the Williams brothers (not real brothers Ziarie Williams and Vince Williams Jr.) used hustle plays to bring the Grizzlies back to a tie at 74. After another tied score at 79 and another Warriors run to take a 7-point lead, the Grizzlies scored 6 straight to end the third quarter and trailed 86-85 going into the fourth quarter.

The Grizzlies then opened up the fourth quarter on a 25-12 run to take their largest lead of the game at 110-98 and used that spurt to finish off the Warriors for a gritty MLK Day win.

What’s in store for the main takeaway today?

Remember the Goal

🫡🫡🫡 #BackToTheGrind pic.twitter.com/5p4QiOZUmy

— Alex (@alexwinton_) January 14, 2024

In the wake of the injury news about Desmond Bane’s Grade 3 left ankle sprain that will sideline him for at least 6 weeks, Jaren Jackson Jr. took to Instagram Stories a picture of him behind Ja Morant and Desmond Bane followed by two additional postings with the words:

• “Don’t worry bout nun. Get tix n pull-up”
• “Remember the goal.”

Seeing as Jaren Jackson Jr. returned to the lineup for the Grizzlies’ annual MLK Day home game against the Golden State Warriors, one can assume that he meant that he doesn’t plan on accepting the talk of the Grizzlies tanking amid the extended losses of Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane, and a lesser extent Jake LaRavia over the past week. Jaren Jackson Jr. is the last star remaining and he knows the pressure is on him to keep the injury-plagued Grizzlies competitive to still fight for the play-in as the Grizzlies sat just 5 games back from the 10th seed entering the MLK Day game.

Jaren proceeded to begin the game taking on the main offensive threat assignment as he scored and assisted on the Grizzlies’ first 10 points and notched 2 steals within the game’s first four minutes. After the Grizzlies’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, Jaren mentioned that he needed to be better with his playmaking when facing double and triple teams after shooting 6-20 and only assisting on one made basket.

Jaren Jackson Jr. said he has to be better with playmaking with facing double and triple teams.

— Grizzly Bear Blues (@bcmGrizzlies) January 13, 2024

Jaren continued to struggle with his shot in the first half in this one as he shot just 2-10 but 8 of those 10 attempts came from the three-point line as Golden State mixed in some zone defense along with running double teams at him inside the arc to force him outside. However, Jaren was much better with his playmaking as he finished the first half with 3 assists and made other passes to assist plays that didn’t show up in the box score.

watch that rock pop around 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Iy2wkRZRcW

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 16, 2024

Jaren Jackson’s shooting struggles continued in the third quarter as Golden State continued to be physical when he was aggressive going to the basket and struggled with his shot behind the arc. However, his aggressive attacks resulted in more shots at the free throw line and his playmaking continued to help his teammates score around him to keep the Grizzlies afloat.

Although tonight was a very bad shooting night (4-20) by Jaren, his presence back on the court made a difference as the defense had to react to him as the Grizzlies’ best player on the court and he utilized that to be a better playmaker as he had stated before. He finished the game with 18 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 5 stocks (4 steals and 1 block) to show that he can affect winning in other ways on the offensive end besides scoring and his expected defensive output as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

Start/Stop/Continue

START GG Jackson! This may be premature as he might just be a bucket getter off the bench type of player but you never know until you try it and the Grizzlies are in a “try and see” approach now with the roster setup for the near future. GG Jackson notched his second straight 20-point game with 23 points and led the team in +/- with a +23. He has combined to shoot 15-23, including 6-12 from three, in his last two games and provided a nice defensive effort against the Warriors with 6 rebounds and 4 stocks (2 steals and 2 blocks) which should bold well for his future projection.

YERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR @_ggjackson https://t.co/5lhN9czyWN pic.twitter.com/iEDhSOP6bL

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 15, 2024

Coming Up

The Grizzlies hit the road for the next week and a half for a four-game trip where they have had success this season with an 11-10 record away from the FedExForum. First is a visit to Minnesota to take on the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves on Thursday at 9:00 PM CST on TNT.

Final Quote

“It’s great seeing stars every night, being able to guard them, and them giving me some advice on the offensive end” – Vince Williams Jr.