The Memphis Grizzlies blew past expectations to finish the season with their best record in franchise history. Ja Morant had an All-NBA caliber season and has claimed his position as one of the best guards in the league. The rest of their core is starting to form behind an All-Defensive season by Jaren Jackson Jr. and a superb shooting season by sophomore Desmond Bane. Memphis is on track to advance past the second round led by their excellent front office and head coach Taylor Jenkins.
The Grizzlies will continue to focus on internal improvement but also could make a significant addition this offseason. They now have a limited window to utilize cap space to pursue a top free agent this offseason or the next. They could also potentially put some of their chips together to acquire someone through trade.
Dillon Brooks and the Memphis Grizzlies lost a tight game to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals 98-101, and now trail 3-1 in the series.
Without Ja Morant, Memphis needed Brooks to step up, but unfortunately for them, he had a rough shooting night. The 26-year old shot 5-19 from the field and 2-9 from beyond the arc, finishing with 12 points in 39 minutes.
NBA Twitter wasn’t happy with Brooks’ performance, especially in crunch time.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Dillon Brooks’ rough night in Game 4 vs. the Warriors.
Dillon Brooks and the Memphis Grizzlies lost a tight game to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals 98-101, and now trail 3-1 in the series.
Without Ja Morant, Memphis needed Brooks to step up, but unfortunately for them, he had a rough shooting night. The 26-year old shot 5-19 from the field and 2-9 from beyond the arc, finishing with 12 points in 39 minutes.
NBA Twitter wasn’t happy with Brooks’ performance, especially in crunch time.
¿Alguna vez tuvieron que bailar la cuadrilla, o square dance, en la clase de deportes cuando eran niños? La verdad era algo muy raro para hacer en la clase de deportes porque, ¿cuándo en la vida vas a bailar la cuadrilla? Nunca olvidaremos estar …
¿Alguna vez tuvieron que bailar la cuadrilla, o square dance, en la clase de deportes cuando eran niños? La verdad era algo muy raro para hacer en la clase de deportes porque, ¿cuándo en la vida vas a bailar la cuadrilla? Nunca olvidaremos estar contando en voz alta con nuestra pareja mientras que, en realidad, lo que queríamos era estar jugando basquetbol o hockey de piso o cualquier otra cosa que fuera más divertida que la cuadrilla.
Perdón por esta discusión tan larga y por divagar sobre la cuadrilla, probablemente se estén preguntando por qué empezamos a hablar sobre esto.
Bueno, pues porque parece que anoche Steph Curry y Jordan Poole se pusieron a bailar la cuadrilla conta los Grizzlies y todo fue para confundir a sus contrincantes.
Es en serio, vean esto:
Shout out Steph Curry Shout out Jordan Poole Shout out gym class square dancing pic.twitter.com/WN508oXbau
Traducción: Parece que las clases de baile obligatorias a las que nos forzaron a tomar en la escuela primaria finalmente le sirvieron de algo a alguien. Traducción recuadro: Stephen Curry y Jordan Poole. ¿Cómo defiendes esto?
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What’s up, family! It’s Sykes, once again, here to usher you into tonight’s playoff action. But first, a word on life without LeBron James.
LeBron has been a postseason fixture for literally two decades now. He’d made the postseason for 15 seasons and reached the NBA Finals in 10 of those. Each was basically a guaranteed success for him — the only question was always how far he could take it.
But he’s out now. The Lakers missed the playoffs. And I have a confession to make:
The playoffs have been much more interesting without the spectacle that is LeBron James hovering over them.
That’s not a knock on Bron. He’s incredible and has earned our undivided attention when he’s on the court. But, for the first time in what feels like forever, the NBA’s other stars are finally getting some breathing room. We’re able to talk about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s quest to become an all-time great or Luka Doncic’s incredible early career playoff dominance that mirrors Michael Jordan’s. We can focus on the old guard vs. the new with Steph Curry and Ja Morant and talk about players like Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum fighting to finally get over the hump.
These stories, these players. They’re all so interesting. And we’ve had so much room to explore them. It’s been a joy to watch in my opinion.
Everyone also seems to agree. Just look at the ratings from Game 1 of the Grizzlies-Warriors series — it was the most watched conference semifinals game in years, per Front Office Sports.
That’s because nothing feels like a forgone conclusion. We’re free to breathe and wonder about outcomes again in the NBA. The playoffs aren’t just a measuring stick for one great player anymore — instead, it’s an entire playground with endless possibilities.
And, clearly, we’re all here for it. Let’s enjoy this while we have it.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Speaking of Ja Morant, this dude is not afraid of the spotlight. At all. In fact, he seems to be inviting it.
He’s talking trash to one of the best point guards in NBA history. Do you know how confident in yourself you have to be to get this off? My colleague, Charles Curtis, detailed exactly what was said here.
“That includes Ja Morant saying something to Steph Curry at the end of Game 2. Lip-readers thought the Memphis guard said something like, “We’re gonna have some fun” as the two passed by each other.”
Suns (-6.5, -260) vs. Nuggets (+205), O/U 215.5, 10 PM ET
Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Luka Doncic is incredible and his monster 45-point effort in Game 1 to try and eke out a comeback win against the Suns was certainly impressive. But that’s the thing: The Mavericks had to come back. And in the end, it still wasn’t that close.
The Suns are just deeper. They’re better and they have an answer for pretty much everything the Mavs are throwing at them. I’m taking them -6.5 tonight.
Who’s in and out?
(Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
—Joel Embiid (Orbital fracture) is still out for Game 2 against the Miami Heat.
That’s all, folks. Catch you next time. Enjoy the basketball tonight.
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But like all the NBA legends before him, Ja knows what time it is. When your legend is building, you have to build it some more. And how do you build it more? Lying. Or, at least, making the truth seem a bit more exciting, anyway.
I’m sure circumstances were tough for LeBron in those instances. But this is him absolutely myth-building with these stories trying to add to his legend.
Ja Morant took a page right out of that book on Tuesday when he got poked in the eye himself. Apparently, he couldn’t see out of his left eye at all while he pieced the Warriors up for 18 points in the 4th quarter.
Grizzlies’ Ja Morant says he couldn’t see out of left eye while scoring final 15 points of Game 2 win over Warriors: “I’ve got another good eye over here. 20/20 vision right here. Thank God for my right eye.” pic.twitter.com/BzyJPwoU5p
Ja Morant went off for a playoff career-high 47 points in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors as the Memphis Grizzlies tied the series 1-1.
NBA Twitter was trending during Morant’s spectacular performance with star players like LeBron James praising the most improved player of the year.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Ja Morant’s spectacular Game 2 with 47 points vs. Golden State.
Ja Morant went off for a playoff career-high 47 points in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors as the Memphis Grizzlies tied the series 1-1.
NBA Twitter was trending during Morant’s spectacular performance with star players like LeBron James praising the most improved player of the year.
The first round of the NBA playoffs didn’t give us a Game 7, but it was still extremely exciting.
You had the Brooklyn Nets unexpectedly getting swept in what turned out to be four fairly close games against the Celtics. You had new stars in Jordan Poole, Anthony Edwards and Brandon Ingram emerge.
Speaking of Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans pushed the Suns to 6 games in an absolute dogfight. The same can be said about the Timberwolves and Grizzlies matchup that ended in 6 on Friday night.
The first round was fun. It felt very, uh, weird at times. But it was still fun. Now, we move on to the second round where there are a bunch of other extremely good matchups waiting on us.
Here’s a definitive ranking of them for your pleasure. Enjoy.
Whew this rivalry is going to be fun moving forward
We know the vibe with the Grizzlies by now. They ain’t “ducking no smoke,” as Ja Morant put it before.
They’re easily the best trash-talking team in the NBA at this point. They’re so good even Morant’s dad is talking trash. And why wouldn’t they be? They’ve absolutely backed it up all year long by being the second-best team in the NBA this season as far as records go.
When you’re that good? Yeah, you can talk a little trash. Or a lot. Whatever it is you choose to do.
That’s why it’s kind of hard to get mad at the Grizzlies for dancing on the Timberwolves logo on their way out of the door.
The Grizzlies eliminated the Wolves after yet another comeback victory in Game 6 on Friday night. After the win, Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks made their way to midcourt where they did the Griddy all over the Wolves’ logo.
