The Memphis Grizzlies traveled south Tuesday night for another matchup with their Southwest division rival, the New Orleans Pelicans. This exact matchup took place a week ago, when Grizzlies Point Guard Ja Morant made his regular season debut following a 25-game suspension. Morant captivated the league once again in last week’s game, hitting the game-winner as time expired for the Grizzlies.
Tonight, there was another big storyline in New Orleans, as Memphis would get another guard back in Marcus Smart. Could Memphis extend its three game-winning streak to four in the ‘big easy?’
First Quarter:
The first quarter was an up-and-down affair between the Grizzlies and the Pelicans. It was a turnover fest in the beginning, which turned into the Grizzlies getting stops and scores as the first quarter progressed. Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane continued his hot shooting from the Hawks game on Saturday night, scoring 14 points in the first quarter on 5-for-8 shooting.
As mentioned earlier, the first quarter wasn’t pretty by any means outside of Bane’s scoring output for Memphis. Eleven combined first quarter turnovers between the Pelicans and Grizzlies, resulted in a low-scoring first frame in New Orleans. Memphis led New Orleans 24-19 heading to the second quarter.
Second Quarter:
The second quarter was an abysmal showing compared to the first. The Grizzlies, all the way around, had a huge six-minute let down, allowing the Pelicans to reclaim momentum.
With Marcus Smart returning, it didn’t seem like there would be an issue with the rotations. However, Memphis’ second quarter letdown was a combination of a lack of situational awareness and a lack of scoring, which can be partially attributed to the chemistry of the deployed lineups.
Memphis shot 42% from the field; however, it shot merely 23% from the three-point range. Memphis trailed New Orleans 48-43 at the half.
Third Quarter:
In the third quarter, New Orleans continued to snatch momentum away from the Grizzlies, knocking down tough shot after tough shot. Memphis got to within two points, but for every run Memphis made, New Orleans had an answer. Memphis trailed by as much as 14 and was outscored in the third quarter 32-24.
Offense simply wasn’t consistent. Memphis would need a miracle in the fourth as they trailed New Orleans 80-67 heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter:
The fourth quarter was a roller coaster, to say the least, for both teams. Memphis trailed the Pelicans by 13 heading into the final frame and kept chipping away as the fourth quarter minutes passed. With the combination of Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bane, and Smart, it took Memphis 11:59 of the 12:00 in the fourth quarter to tie it up with New Orleans – but they did it!
Memphis forced overtime with a made free throw from Jackson Jr. There was just 0.4 seconds on the clock.
Overtime:
Overtime between Memphis and New Orleans was as thrilling as could’ve been advertised. Unfortunately, it began with two early fouls on Jackson Jr. and then Bane. But then, Smart recorded his fifth steal of the game on his way to an And-1 on the other end!
Then, Jackson Jr. snatched the moment by the horns…
And, finally, Smart took Memphis home in overtime, wrapping up a defensive masterclass in his first game back…
The Grizzlies made a 15-point comeback on the Pelicans to extend their winning streak to four games in one of the more enthralling games of the season.
Final Stats:
Ja Morant – 31 points (12/24 FG), seven assists, and seven rebounds
Desmond Bane – 27 points (9/22 FG, 5/14 3PT), seven assists
Jaren Jackson Jr. – 19 points, ten rebounds
Marcus Smart – 13 points, five steals