Hustle Report: Tied for 1st in the West with 3 Weeks Remaining

The Memphis Hustle are entering the last stretch run of the season as the playoffs are near. Following Monday’s 112-97 victory over the Austin Spurs, the Hustle find themselves tied with the Stockton Kings for 1st place in the Western Conference standings with 8 games remaining in the regular season.

Entering Monday’s game against the Spurs, the Memphis Hustle had won 8 of their last 10 games but were coming off a loss against that same Austin Spurs team just last Saturday night. It was a loss that snapped the Hustle’s 7-game-winning streak and was a bit disappointing considering the Spurs are one of the worst G League teams with a now 7-18 record.

In that 121-109 loss to the Spurs last Saturday, the Hustle struggled defensively as they allowed three 20-point scorers, including two of those players scoring more than double their average. Austin Spurs Point Guard and second-leading scorer, Olin Carter III, scored his season-high 25 points and made five of six of his attempts behind the arc while Forwards Jordan Murphy and Chaundee Brown Jr. scored 24 points and 23 points, respectively. In a back-and-forth affair, the Spurs ended the game on a 17-5 run after the teams were tied at 104 to seal the road victory.

The defense took that performance personally Monday night as they held the Spurs to 97 points total and 21% shooting from three as opposed to 46% shooting from three Saturday night. Hustle Head Coach Jason March commended the defensive efforts of bench contributors Damien Jefferson, Romeo Weems, and Adonis Arms with their constant switches to keep the Spurs out of the paint. Also, the Hustle switched to a zone defense a couple of times to change up the look that helped keep the Spurs’ Guards out of the lane. Those efforts helped as the Spurs’ Point Guard, Olin Carter III, only scored 7 points on 3-11 shooting and Forward Chaundee Brown Jr. scored 13 points on 6-18 shooting.

The first half of that game didn’t look promising for the Hustle, as the Austin Spurs led by as many as 9 points and went into the half with a 6-point lead at 57-51 behind 32 points scored in the paint. After an early burst to extend the lead to 68-59 to begin the 2nd half, Hustle Head Coach Jason March called a timeout to challenge the team to play to the level of play they’re accustomed to and they responded in a big way. A 15-0 run followed as the Hustle finished the 3rd quarter on a 20-4 run overall to take a 7-point lead going into the 4th quarter at 79-72.

The Memphis Hustle continued that run throughout the 4th quarter as they led by as many as 17 points en route to the 112-97 victory. Hustle Center, Matthew Hurt, scored a career-high 30 points to go along with a career-high 5 blocks as he anchored both the offense and defense. Coming off a 17-point performance in Saturday night’s game, Matthew Hurt alluded to the coaches telling him to be more aggressive as the Spurs stayed home on the 3-point shooters and felt he was being passive Saturday night. Hustle guard Damien Jefferson chipped in 18 points off the bench while starting point guard, Jacob Gilyard, produced a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists to pace the Hustle.

The Memphis Hustle will get a week off before taking the road as they embark on an 8-game in 13 days stretch to end the season with 6 of the final 8 games on the road.