Buckets

Just what the doctor ordered! A trip north of the border was the cure for our road blues as the Grizzlies found a win on the road at Toronto. The Beale Street Bruins won 119-106 over the Raptors on Thursday night, snapping a 2 game skid in what has been a tough stretch to say the least. From high flying dunks, Gritty’s off the court at a time out, and suffocating defense from Dillon Brooks – the swagger was back! Ja broke out the latest edition of the Ja 1’s and his high flying antics were in full effect. More importantly though was the return of his supporting cast. Desmond began to find his shot again, though he fouled out early in the 4th, Dillon, who finished with 25 points, was relentless defending Pascal Siakum back in his home town (leading to a tech on Siakum late in the game from the Dillon Brooks effect), and Jaren moved with a purpose on offense. JJJ had some beautiful assists and found a lot of open spaces on the floor, but his patience on defense was so nice to see. He wasn’t reaching like previous games and he was able to keep himself involved through good decisions. With two 30+ point quarters, and double doubles from Steven Adams (14 points and 17 boards) and Ja (19 points and 17 assists), we were back on our winning ways! Also, for the first time since December 9th all 5 Grizzlies starters were in double figures and they all finished with a positive +/-. Playing up to our standards was a sight for sore eyes and it lead to a solid road win. The Grizzlies shot 50% from the floor and 45% from beyond the arc, drastic improvements over the previous games we have suffered through.

This was the Grizzlies of old and we looked the part of a championship team for large stretches of this game.. Toronto is by no means a great basketball team, losers of 6 straight at home, but it was refreshing to watch them play well against an inferior team. This was a much needed team win where every one contributed and we played our style of basketball again. The NBA’s best team in the paint was back to the tune of 70 points down low and dominated the Raptors in rebounds (53-21) and high percentage shots. The ball movement was on point with 37 assists, hitting cutting players on seemingly every possession and finding high percentage shots. During the 4th, the Raptors battled back to make it a little interesting, so there are things to continue working on. We have to find that killer instinct again, but a win is a win when you are struggling. No complaints from me on this one! Welcome back boys!

The Grizzlies lace ’em up again on New Years Eve, Saturday 12/31 at home in a big division game against the New Orleans Pelicans at 8pm EST.