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When the NBA season resumes next week, the Memphis Grizzlies will be among several teams looking to claim the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
The NBA devised a new format for the playoffs this year in which a play-in tournament will take place for the eighth seed in each conference if the ninth-placed team is within four games of the team in eighth place at the conclusion of the eight seeding games.
As it stands now, the Grizzlies hold a 3.5-game lead over the Portland Trail Blazers in ninth place. The team that finishes in eighth place will need to be beaten twice in the play-in tournament to be eliminated so the Grizzlies could have the advantage in that scenario.
Of course, there are still several possibilities that could play out but Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant said Monday that the team will be taking it one game at a time when the season resumes July 31 against the Trail Blazers.
[We are going to] take one game at a time, attack each game the same way. Regardless of what happens in our first game, we gotta go into the next game with a new mentality and throw that first one out the window. Just take one game at a time and play our style of basketball.
Morant took his time off away from basketball this summer to focus on his body and he put in quite a bit of work in the gym as a result. He worked out daily and even added over 10 pounds of muscle to handle the physicality of the NBA.
It’s safe to say that when the Grizzlies return to action, Morant will be ready.
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