Post Game - Celtics at Grizzlies - Sunday, November 19 (W)

Celtics-Grizzlies takeaways: Porzingis propels C's to sixth straight win

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-grizzlies-takeaways-porzingis-propels-041706132.html

Justin Leger
Sun, Nov 19, 2023, 11:17 PM EST·4 min read



Celtics-Grizzlies takeaways: Porzingis propels C's to sixth straight win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

"The Unicorn" saves the day
Hauser picks up the slack
An ode to Marcus Smart

The Boston Celtics kept it rolling in Memphis on Sunday night with their sixth consecutive victory.

It was a gritty, back-and-forth affair between the C's and Grizzlies that came down to the final seconds. Boston took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter and it stayed close throughout the final frame.

Led by Desmond Bane (30 points) and Santi Aldama (28 points), Memphis wouldn't let up and had a chance to force overtime with Ziaire Williams' last-second attempt at the buzzer. Kristaps Porzingis, however, had other plans.

Watch the thrilling final moments below:



The result: A 102-100 C's triumph that marked their 15th win in their last six games vs. the Grizzlies.

Porzingis did his part offensively too, leading Boston with 26 points. Jayson Tatum was the Celtics' next-highest scorer with 20.

Next up for the C's -- who own the NBA's best record at 11-2 -- is a trip to Charlotte for the second night of a back-to-back vs. the Hornets. First, here are our takeaways from Sunday's game.

Kristaps Porzingis living up to his nickname

Porzingis' block was the most fitting end to this wild matchup, because he was the hero for Boston on both ends of the floor.

The 7-foot-3 star lived up to his "Unicorn" nickname with contributions in nearly every facet of the game. He immediately made his presence felt with 12 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in the first quarter. It marked his first career game with 10+ points and 3+ blocks in the first frame.





Porzingis continued to make huge plays down the stretch. His potentially game-saving block was the exclamation point for a brilliant performance that put him in elite company in C's history.

With 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds, and a whopping six blocks, Porzingis joined Celtics greats Robert Parish and Kevin McHale as the only players to put up that stunning stat line (via Celtics voice Sean Grande):



Without Porzingis, this game could have gotten out of hand quickly for a Celtics team that was unusually inconsistent offensively. The Latvian big man was the difference-maker.

It's worth noting that Porzingis appeared to tweak his ankle in the fourth quarter. He stayed in the game and looked fine with that emphatic last-second block, but his status will be worth monitoring ahead of Monday's game in Charlotte.

Sam Hauser picks up the slack

Another night, another near-perfect 3-point shooting performance for Sam Hauser.

Hauser, who has been on fire since the calendar flipped to November, stepped up when the rest of the team couldn't buy a 3-point bucket. He was 4-for-5 from 3 in the first half while everyone else combined to shoot 0-for-6 from deep.

The 3s eventually started falling for Boston in the second half, but it was Hauser leading the way with five made 3s in seven attempts. One of those misses was a full-court heave at the end of the third quarter.

Hauser finished with 15 points, the third-most on the team behind only Porzingis and Tatum. Between his consistent 3-point shooting and his improved defense, he's turning into exactly what the Celtics hoped he would become when they gave him a shot to carve out a key role last year.

A Marcus Smart-style game

Although Marcus Smart was unable to take on his former team due to a foot injury, this game felt like a tribute to the ex-Celtics guard.

Smart was known in Boston for his gritty, physical style of play. He'd muck the game up if it meant giving his team a chance to win and became synonymous with "winning plays."

Sunday's game was physical and flat-out chaotic from start to finish. The Grizzlies, while they didn't shoot particularly well, forced the Celtics out of their comfort zone and made plenty of winning plays down the stretch. Porzingis' winning play in the final second, however, was the difference-maker.

Had Smart been healthy enough to play, it's fair to assume he would have thrived in this type of matchup. His presence could have been enough to snap his former team's win streak. Instead, the C's will look for their seventh consecutive win when they visit the Hornets on Monday night.

From another perspective:

Memphis Grizzlies battle, fall late to Celtics in thriller at home

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/nba/grizzlies/2023/11/19/memphis-grizzlies-live-score-updates-boston-celtics-nba-fedex-forum/71537589007/

Damichael Cole
Memphis Commercial Appeal

Not many people expected the Memphis Grizzlies to have the lead with less than two minutes to play against the Boston Celtics. Especially on the second night of a back-to-back.

But inspiring performances from Santi Aldama, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. had the Grizzlies in position to pull off the upset.

The Celtics' defense clamped down in the final seconds and held off the Grizzlies at FedExForum 102-100.

Memphis got the ball back in the final seven seconds for a chance to win it. Aldama missed a 3-pointer, and after Ziaire Williams grabbed a rebound, he was blocked by Kristaps Porzingis at the buzzer. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins appeared to be calling for a timeout after Aldama's miss, but the referees didn't see it.

Porzingis was a difference-maker for the Celtics, finishing with 26 points and six blocks. Bane led the Grizzlies with 30 points, and Aldama scored a career-high 28 points, plus 12 rebounds.

Fourth quarter

Final: Celtics 102, Grizzlies 100

3:33 left: Timeout Grizzlies. Boston leads 98-95. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bismack Biyombo have five fouls for the Grizzlies, but Santi Aldama has continued his hit shooting.



7:20 left: The Celtics lead 89-86. Memphis took an 86-84 lead before Boston responded back with five unanswered points.

Third quarter

Foul trouble haunting the Grizzlies

End of third quarter: Celtics 79, Grizzlies 76

Santi Aldama is leading the Grizzlies with 25 points. That's a new career-high for the Grizzlies big man. Memphis is only shooting 39.4%, but the defense has held Boston to 45.9% shooting.



2:47 left: Memphis is down 75-69, but it's playing without multiple impact bigs. Bismack Biyombo has five fouls and Jaren Jackson Jr. has four.



9:29 left: The Grizzlies trail 62-59 early in the third quarter. Bane is picking up where he left off, but so is Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis. Both players are up to 20 points.



Second quarter

Halftime: Celtics 56, Grizzlies 53

The Grizzlies are going toe-to-toe so far with the Celtics. Desmond Bane has 18 points, Santi Aldama has 17 and Jaren Jackson Jr. has 10. The rest of the Grizzlies have eight points.

Boston is led by Kristaps Porzingis, who has 16 points. Sam Hauser has scored 12 points off the bench with four made 3-pointers.



2:50 left: The Celtics lead 50-42. Boston has done most of its damage by using a size advanatge. The Celtics currently have a 28-12 lead for points in the paint.

Foul trouble for Biyombo

7:27 left: The Grizzlies are down 37-35, but Bismack Biyombo has already picked up his third foul and headed to the bench.



8:49 left: The Grizzlies trail 33-27. Boston has started the second quarter on a 7-0 run. Desmond Bane played the entire first quarter. Memphis is struggling to score since he has left the game.



First quarter

End of first quarter: Grizzlies 27, Celtics 26

The Grizzlies are getting good early results from the big lineup. Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Santi Aldama have combined for all 27 Memphis points. Bane has 13 to lead the way. Jackson and Aldama have each scored seven. Kristaps Porzingis leads Boston with 12 points.

3:46 left: Desmond Bane has gotten off to a strong start, and he's up to 10 points. Kristaps Porzingis currently leads the Celtics with nine. The Grizzlies are down 21-17.



10:31 left: The Boston Celtics have jumped out a quick 6-0 lead. Memphis has missed its first three shots, and the Celtics have made all three of their attempts.



New starting lineup for Grizzlies

Jacob Gilyard will be replaced in the starting lineup today with Santi Aldama. The Grizzlies are going with a bigger lineup against the Celtics. Aldama started the second half against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday and scored 17 points while helping the Grizzlies complete a 19-point comeback. Starting Aldama alongside Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bismack Biyombo gives the Grizzlies one of the biggest frontcourts in the NBA.



Grizzlies live score updates

Beating the Boston Celtics has been a tough task that only two of their 12 opponents have accomplished so far. The Memphis Grizzlies will attempt to do so on the second night of a back-to-back.

Less than 24 hours after a thrilling 19-point comeback road win against the San Antonio Spurs, the Grizzlies (3-9) are at FedExForum facing the reigning Eastern Conference champions. The Celtics (10-2) have the NBA's best record, powered by an offense and defense that both rank inside the top-10 in efficiency.

Memphis is still searching for its first home win of the season, going 0-5 after having the NBA's best home record last season.

Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are two of only three Grizzlies players who have played in every game this season. The two have led Memphis in scoring and will be major factors against the Celtics.

Boston acquired defensive star Jrue Holiday and 7-foot-2 center Kristaps Porzingis to complete one of the NBA's best starting lineups. Jayson Tatum leads the Celtics with 27.5 points per game.

Former Celtics guard and current Grizzlies wing Marcus Smart was injured on Tuesday and is not available.

For a team on the 2nd game of a SEGABAGABAGA they did very well.  Wait until Smart and Ja are back, they'll be even better.  If Steven Adams was healthy and played this game...


Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
yesterday
Santi Aldama told me Marcus Smart talked to the #Grizzlies for “10 straight minutes” pregame about tips for facing the #Celtics


Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 3 hours ago
Before Sunday... No one had 30 against Boston in regulation...Desmond Bane did it No one had 12 rebounds against Boston in regulation...Santi Aldama did it No one had 8 assists against Boston...Bane did it No one had made 6 3's against Boston...Bane and Aldama both did it

Ironically, Desmond Bane could have been a Celtic.  In fact, for a short time, he was.  His draft pick originally belonged to Milwaukee, who traded the pick in 2017 to Phoenix.  In 2019 Phoenix traded the pick to Boston for Aron Baynes and a pick (who turned out to be Ty Jerome).  We drafted Desmond Bane with this pick, it was the #30 pick in 2020, and then traded  him two days later to Memphis so we could get out of the mandatory rookie contract as part of a 3-team deal that sent Enes Kanter to Portland.  We received a 2025 2nd round pick.  In the end we gave up Kanter, Baynes and a 1st round pick (Bane) for a 2nd round pick that is still 2 years away.  Trader Danny didn't win that one.


We won this game at the free throw line and almost lost it on turnovers.  25 ftas for us, Porzingis with 9 of them, vs only 10 for them.  We got 11 more points from there than them.  I understand why we got so many more, they don't have anybody to match up with against Z, but there's the game right there.

We had 17 turnovers vs only 9 for them.  Jayson Tatum with 8 turnovers.  8.  He had 5 assists and 8 turnovers.  I had to keep writing that because it's just SO bad.


Sam is in full shooting rhythm now.  He was 5-7 (71.4%) from 3 last night.  The rest of the Celtics were 7-24 (29.2%).  


Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 3 hours ago
Among the 35 NBA players that have attempted 80 or more 3's this year... 1. Jalen Brunson, NY .477 2. SAM HAUSER, BOS .475 3. D. Finney-Smith, Bkn .451 4. Steph Curry, GSW .447 5. Tyrese Maxey, Phi .446 6. Luka Doncic, Dal .422


Jaylen was 1-7 from 3 and 5-16 overall.  He has an adductor strain.  Sit him for a game!  Jeez, JOE!  This was a tougher game than it should have been, true, but you didn't know that going in.  Going in it looked like it was an overmatch, so why did you start Jaylen?!  This goes back to what I've been saying about Joe.  He doesn't coach like he has confidence in his bench.  It's almost like Brad went out and got him a bunch of players he didn't want and now he's saying "fine, you can sign them but you can't make me play them".  I don't think that's what's happening, I don't think Joe is that petty and immature, but he isn't resting the starters even when he knows they're not 100%.  It's still only November.  They, all of them, will be far less than 100% by April just due to the wear-and-tear of an 82 game season.  Joe needs to keep them fresh for as long as he can, and it's not looking like he is thinking like that.


Derrick White's Offensive Rating so far is 130.  His Defensive Rating is 109.  That's a Net Rating of +21.  Wow.  To put that into a little perspective, Giannis' Net Rating is +3 (115/112), Luka's is +5 (121/116) and Embiid's is +16 (125/109).  I realize they're not guards, but they are the best players on the best teams and, therefore, are the biggest difference-makers.  A guard that comes close is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the surprising OKC Thunder.  His Net Rating is +19 (124/105).  He's averaging 29.6ppg, so he's an almost guaranteed All-Star this year.  The only player I looked at whose Net Rating is even wilder than Derrick's is The Joker with +22 (128/106).  It's pretty amazing saying Nikola Jokic and Derrick White in the same sentence.


We're in Charlotte tonight, the final game of the road trip.  We are now a full game up on the Sixers.  We have the #7 offense with 117.2ppg and the #2 defense that only gives up 105.5ppg.  Our +11.7 MoV is still #1, a healthy lead over #2 OKC @ +8.8.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584841





Bob


.

From BobH's post:

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 3 hours ago
Before Sunday... No one had 30 against Boston in regulation...Desmond Bane did it No one had 12 rebounds against Boston in regulation...Santi Aldama did it No one had 8 assists against Boston...Bane did it No one had made 6 3's against Boston...Bane and Aldama both did it

The season is young.  Someone will score 40, someone will rebound 15, someone will have 10 assists, but the odds of having it all happen in one game by the same team is unlikely.  If it did, it would most likely result in a loss.

We had 17 turnovers vs only 9 for them.

The difference was in offensive fouls. What did we have, 7 or 8 of them?  All of them killed whatever flow the Celtics got into.  Some of the calls were odd.  I hope the team gets a chance to review the video and make some minor tweaks to avoid a repeat.

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-post-20231120-the-grizzly-mauler-kp-logs-26-points-6-blocks-as-cs-top-memphis








The Grizzly Mauler: KP Logs 26 Points, 6 Blocks as C’s Top Memphis



Taylor Snow
Taylor Snow●@taylorcsnow
Sr. Writer


Kristaps Porzingis slammed home the winning dunk and swatted away Memphis’ game-tying shot attempt at the buzzer, capping off a chaotic, 102-100 win for the Boston Celtics Sunday night.

In contrast to the tight contest between the two squads at FedExForum, Boston’s 7-foot-3 center had a dominant individual performance that included a team-high 26 points, eight rebounds, and a season-high six blocked shots.

Porzingis’ final bucket and block were the two biggest plays of the game. With 1:01 remaining, he broke a 100-all tie when he cut to the basket and threw down a dish from Jayson Tatum. Exactly one minute later, he came through on the other end when he swatted away Ziare Williams’ turnaround game-tying attempt.

Taylor Snow
@taylorcsnow
Kristaps Porzingis with the game-winning dunk and the game-sealing block to cap off a 26-point, 8-rebound, 6-block night in Memphis.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1726451377801728424


“As I was running back, I checked the clock, I knew it was low on time,” Porzingis said of the final possession. “It was just instinct to jump for the block.”

Porzingis’ instincts were sharp from the get-go, as he logged 12 points and three blocks during the first quarter alone. It was the first time in his career with at least that many points and blocks in a single quarter.

KP went on to shoot 9-of-13 from the field, including 9-of-10 from inside the 3-point arc. It was just the third time he’s ever shot 90 percent on at least 10 2-point attempts.

He also joined an elite list of Celtics big men in becoming just the fourth player in franchise history to record 25-plus points and six-plus blocks in a game. The others are his teammate, Al Horford, who accomplished the feat on Dec. 2, 2016, Kevin McHale, who had four such games, and Robert Parish, who did so on eight occasions with the C’s.

It was the 12th time in his career that Porzingis had at least six blocks in a game and the first time since Jan. 23, 2022, also against the Grizzlies. In fact, four of his 12 six-block efforts have come against Memphis.

What can we say? The man is a Grizzly mauler.

It was fitting for Porzingis to have a strong game against Memphis, considering the role it played in bringing him to Boston. On Draft Night, the Grizzlies sent Tyus Jones to the Wizards, who sent Porzingis to the Celtics, who sent Marcus Smart to Memphis, among several other moving parts.

Unfortunately, Smart couldn’t suit up against his former team due to a sprained left ankle that he suffered Nov. 14 against the Los Angeles Lakers. However, he did share some tender moments before the game with his former teammates, as he walked around the court in a walking boot, embracing Brown, Tatum, and others. He even shared a moment with the man he was traded for, giving Porzingis a handshake and a shoulder squeeze prior to tip-off.

Taylor Snow
@taylorcsnow
cool moment before tonight's game



Smart was ruled out for three-to-five weeks as of Friday, so he should be back well before Memphis’ Feb. 4 trip to Boston. He’s had some success in guarding Porzingis in the past, so maybe he’ll be able to help slow down the Unicorn in the rematch.

For now, however, Porzingis remains the Grizzly mauler.


Bob



.

Well, I saw a couple of things and missed a couple of things that I will need your help with.  

First off, I noticed the the huge discrepancy in FGA's @ 95-77, not in our favor, but wasn't paying attention to that during the game on how/why that evolved.

Then I noticed the TO bug was back at 17-9.  There's 8 possessions with a chance to shoot at least once right there.  Last I looked at OR's and that showed 14-9 against us so that implies more one and done shots on our end.  

What else am I missing to show such a gap in FGA's?  

I don't think this game was a matter of looking ahead to Wednesday.  At the start with all the TO's I believe was a slight bit of showing off, being too comfortable in one's skin and underestimating the opponent, but MEM played some great, Marcus Smart-esque defense, hit 3's, etc. and deserved to be in this game to the end.  Hope you're catching this all, Ja.  By the time you return, for this season it will be almost impossible to recover.  I'm sure the coach is saying we're in a pickle and only the guys that are playing and on the court are the ones that can make a difference until Ja comes back.  So play like you've got nothing to lose.  And that's exactly what I saw last night.  Plus, one more mistake by Ja and it's over in MEM.  The commish, if forced, will come down next with a full year suspension, especially since he's already been lied to or maybe pull the plug himself and ban him.  And it can and will be for anything.  Don't be surprised.  

But I digress.  Glad KP got to make the game-winning basket.  I'm sure he's been looking for that redemption after missing the wide open look to tie PHI in regulation.  

Again, we took what was being offered.  Points in the Paint.  42-32 and 46 FGA's for 2's vs. 31 FGA's for 3's.  3's came in about average at 38.7%.  We even gave up 15 points in 3-ville but made it up in 2-ville.  Had a couple of And 1's.  

I think with Marcus being out, this game had all the makings of Marcus selling out some subtle, unless you're Erik Spoelstra not seen on game film tactics on how to beat us.  Possible time to summon dboss's paycheck for that action but won't find many takers on the sucker bet.  That's obvious.

I think MEM deserves some credit.  They played a great game and like MIA in the playoffs a couple of years ago, almost had a chance to pull it off with a wide open 3.  But alas, they didn't.  Thanks, Lucky!!

I believe they are sending a message to Ja just like PHI eventually sent to Harden.  (PHI REALLY didn't need Hardhead!!)  We just about don't need you and by the time you do come back, well, we'll see.  So when/if you do come back, you better be clean, laser-focused, have a brand new posse or none at all and hit the effing ground running 10x harder than you are currently thinking or we'll ship your a$$ to CHA on a one-way ticket to NBA Hell so fast it will make your head spin and you can rot there the rest of your career.  We're acting/playing this way and so should you if you want to hang around.  Otherwise, go enjoy your life sans the NBA.

OK, maybe not that harsh, but dang!  Can you imagine this team with their gritty 3rd string, all uninjured roster and with Ja?!  I say, come on, man!!  We would have lost by 40.  I'm impressed to say the least.  But they are now waiting for Ja to grow up.  How long will it take?  We'll see.

Yep. Won this one at the free throw line and almost lost it on TO's. But that's what we saw them giving us. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Gotta like Joe's tactic and lessons learned the hard way there. Missing 3's? Bring in Doogie. Give it to KP for inside And 1's/Dunks/Layups...whatever you like. Oh, and then we've got JT and JB warming up on deck. If that's not enough, we'll go to our 4th and 5th scoring options for 3D's and 30 point games if necessary.

Yeah, Doogie's rapidly approaching/in Vinnie territory for sure. Funny, we actually lost 15 points in 3's as mentioned above. You can tell all these homer announcers are reading off of last year's opposing team scripts.

Can we get another 155-point game and rest our starters after halftime?!!  I miss those already!!

db

dbrown4 wrote:Well, I saw a couple of things and missed a couple of things that I will need your help with.  

First off, I noticed the the huge discrepancy in FGA's @ 95-77, not in our favor, but wasn't paying attention to that during the game on how/why that evolved.

Then I noticed the TO bug was back at 17-9.  There's 8 possessions with a chance to shoot at least once right there.  Last I looked at OR's and that showed 14-9 against us so that implies more one and done shots on our end.  

What else am I missing to show such a gap in FGA's?  

I don't think this game was a matter of looking ahead to Wednesday.  At the start with all the TO's I believe was a slight bit of showing off, being too comfortable in one's skin and underestimating the opponent, but MEM played some great, Marcus Smart-esque defense, hit 3's, etc. and deserved to be in this game to the end.  Hope you're catching this all, Ja.  By the time you return, for this season it will be almost impossible to recover.  I'm sure the coach is saying we're in a pickle and only the guys that are playing and on the court are the ones that can make a difference until Ja comes back.  So play like you've got nothing to lose.  And that's exactly what I saw last night.  Plus, one more mistake by Ja and it's over in MEM.  The commish, if forced, will come down next with a full year suspension, especially since he's already been lied to or maybe pull the plug himself and ban him.  And it can and will be for anything.  Don't be surprised.  

But I digress.  Glad KP got to make the game-winning basket.  I'm sure he's been looking for that redemption after missing the wide open look to tie PHI in regulation.  

Again, we took what was being offered.  Points in the Paint.  42-32 and 46 FGA's for 2's vs. 31 FGA's for 3's.  3's came in about average at 38.7%.  We even gave up 15 points in 3-ville but made it up in 2-ville.  Had a couple of And 1's.  

I think with Marcus being out, this game had all the makings of Marcus selling out some subtle, unless you're Erik Spoelstra not seen on game film tactics on how to beat us.  Possible time to summon dboss's paycheck for that action but won't find many takers on the sucker bet.  That's obvious.

I think MEM deserves some credit.  They played a great game and like MIA in the playoffs a couple of years ago, almost had a chance to pull it off with a wide open 3.  But alas, they didn't.  Thanks, Lucky!!

I believe they are sending a message to Ja just like PHI eventually sent to Harden.  (PHI REALLY didn't need Hardhead!!)  We just about don't need you and by the time you do come back, well, we'll see.  So when/if you do come back, you better be clean, laser-focused, have a brand new posse or none at all and hit the effing ground running 10x harder than you are currently thinking or we'll ship your a$$ to CHA on a one-way ticket to NBA Hell so fast it will make your head spin and you can rot there the rest of your career.  We're acting/playing this way and so should you if you want to hang around.  Otherwise, go enjoy your life sans the NBA.

OK, maybe not that harsh, but dang!  Can you imagine this team with their gritty 3rd string, all uninjured roster and with Ja?!  I say, come on, man!!  We would have lost by 40.  I'm impressed to say the least.  But they are now waiting for Ja to grow up.  How long will it take?  We'll see.

Yep.  Won this one at the free throw line and almost lost it on TO's.  But that's what we saw them giving us.  Never look a gift horse in the mouth.  Gotta like Joe's tactic and lessons learned the hard way there.  Missing 3's?  Bring in Doogie.  Give it to KP for inside And 1's/Dunks/Layups...whatever you like.  Oh, and then we've got JT and JB warming up on deck.  If that's not enough, we'll go to our 4th and 5th scoring options for 3D's and 30 point games if necessary.  

Yeah, Doogie's rapidly approaching/in Vinnie territory for sure.  Funny, we actually lost 15 points in 3's as mentioned above.  You can tell all these homer announcers are reading off of last year's opposing team scripts.

Can we get another 155-point game and rest our starters after halftime?!!  I miss those already!!

db

dbrown,

There were 8 offensive fouls called on us.  Statistically, they count as 'turnovers', so there's half of our 17 turnovers right there.  Some of them looked quite, shall we say, questionable.

Those offensive fouls also contributed to our dearth of fgas.  Whether it's an offensive foul on a charge or an offensive foul setting a pick it takes away any fga for that possession.  If we only had half the offensive foul calls our fgas would get up to 81.  Still way too low, but not 77.  According to NBA.com the Memphis Grizzlies are averaging .62 charges drawn per game. So, we gave them 7 more than their average. 7 offensive fouls/turnovers less and they're still a little above their average and we get at least 7 more fgas, possibly even more since the opportunity for us to grab an offensive board off a miss and turn that into another fga is there.  It isn't if we turn it over before there's a shot.

Also, they out offensive-rebounded us 14-9.  Not every offensive rebound turns into a fga, but they usually do, so there's another 3 or 4 fgas they got that they shouldn't have had if we had done our job on our defensive glass, which we have no excuse for since they really don't have any real bigs that can compete with Z and Al.  Put these together, the 7 more offensive fouls by us and 5 more offensive rebounds by them, and instead of 95-77 fgas in their favor now we're more like 91-84.  84 fgas/game is moderate, neither great nor particularly poor. 91 fgas in a regulation game is healthy, for them, and those additional fgas came from their offensive rebounding and our turnovers.


Bob


.

Memphis just played harder than we did last night. Not sure if we took them lightly, but these are NBA players, Bane and Jackson are very good players.

This is another game we may have lost last year, but we are much more poised this year and are able to make the plays when they are needed. It's funny the one guy who seems to have the most poise and makes big plays almost cost us the game. I don't know what Holiday was thinking trying to dunk the ball when he could have dribbled the clock down and got fouled. We got a little lucky, Aldana had a great look.

I hope Joe sits Jaylen tonight, he looked Ok but a day off should do him some good. Al will definitely rest tonite, so its a good time to see what Queta and Stevens can do. Lets not screw around tonite, you know the Hornets are going to be ready for us. No one plays half speed against us.

BobH,

Thank you so much! That makes a lot of sense. I was not looking at the offensive fouls, which as you pointed out, some were quite offensive! Nor their offensive rebounds which would result more than likely in an additional shot.

We had another game like that where we were outshot by about the same margin. Can't remember which game it was. Don't even remember if it was a loss or not.

But yes, we were a bit cavalier with the ball last night. Even Jrue was trying to squeeze a few passes in there that weren't his usual. JT wasn't bombing 3's or turning it over as much except for the Offensive Fouls. MEM was just very prepared/scrappy and I think Marcus had a lot of competitive spirit and played a role in disclosing all that knowledge to his teammates. I tip my hat to MEM especially given their current predicament. They almost pulled it off and we would have deserved every bit of it as the numbers showed.

On to CHA, starting in a few hours.

db