Two NBA teams on different paths will face off Saturday night in Memphis.
The Memphis Grizzlies are on a roll, having won five straight with a 139-126 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.
The Utah Jazz are struggling, having lost four straight and seven of their past eight.
The Grizzlies, who lead the league in scoring average at 123.6 points per game, overwhelmed the Pelicans with a strong second half despite missing two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant, who sat out with an illness. Top reserve Santi Aldama also was out with an illness.
A breakout week from reserve guard Luke Kennard has aided the Grizzlies.
In a 132-120 win over Charlotte on Wednesday, Kennard came off the bench to score 23 points. He made 7 of his 11 3-point tries.
With Morant out, Kennard moved into the starting lineup against the Pelicans and scored a season-high 27 points. Kennard made 10 of 14 shots from the field, including 7 of 9 attempts from long range.
“Luke set a tone in the starting lineup,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. “His knocking down 3s was big time.”
Jenkins said Kennard’s aggressive mentality overall led to his increased production.
“He’s scoring in transition, he’s scoring off of relocation, he’s scoring off of pick-and-roll plays, he’s playmaking in all those situations as well,” Jenkins said.
Kennard said being more involved in the offense has helped.
“When you have the ball in your hands, you have to be more focused, trying to make the right play, trying to be aggressive,” he said. “I think coach knows if I have the ball in my hands, especially early in a game, it gets me going a little bit. It gets me into a rhythm.”
Jenkins also complimented the contributions from shooting guard Desmond Bane, who moved into Morant’s vacated point guard spot and looked the part. Bane dished out 14 assists, including eight in the first half, when his shooting stroke was off (1 of 6 from the field).
“Dez was huge with his playmaking,” Jenkins said. “His shots weren’t falling in the first half and I said, ‘Hey, just keep being aggressive with your playmaking; your shot’s going to (eventually) fall.’ He was still getting a lot of stuff going downhill, which opened up the 3-point line (for teammates).”
Despite the rough stretch for the Jazz, who have fallen into last place in the Western Conference, Utah coach Will Hardy remains upbeat. He has recognized improvement in several areas that others might overlook.
“I’m really, really proud of the team,” Hardy said. “I’m really optimistic about our group going forward. I think we are showing a lot of strides of being able to learn throughout the season.
“I think a lot of players are getting better individually, and I think our collective IQ is growing. Physical mistakes happen. I can live with those. I think we are cutting down on our mental mistakes.”
Utah is coming off a 123-114 loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, a game in which the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points. The Jazz grabbed 23 offensive rebounds in the loss and scored 31 second-chance points.
Hardy welcomed back Lauri Markkanen and John Collins against the Thunder. Collins had missed the previous five games with a left hip issue, and Markkanen had been sidelined the previous four with lower back spasms.
Collins led the Jazz with 22 points, while Markkanen put in 17. All five starters scored in double figures.
–Field Level Media
