The Grizzlies found their teeth on defense

Grizzlies blow. Tuomas Iisal’s men had a busy start to the season, where they had to play a lot of matches to look forward to traveling to London and Berlin for the European NBA Games in January. Between the last game against Portland and the upcoming game against the Jazz, Memphis has four days off. Enough to rest the body, but also to work on maintaining the beautiful dynamics seen in recent days.

“It’s a special situation” Thomas confessed Jesus. “Our schedule was a little tighter because we had to make up those two weeks in January. Now we see this as an opportunity to individualize training a little more. Some players will be able to recover, while others will be able to do much-needed work.”

Jaren Jackson Jr.’s teammates have won seven of their last ten games I Morant he did not play any of these ten matches. And to find the paint, Memphis again relies on its defense. On this sequenceThe Grizzlies have allowed just 109.2 points per 100 possessions (4th best defense in the league) including their last two outings against the Clippers and Blazers where they have allowed less than 100 points. First of all, they shined in the fourth quarter where neither Los Angeles nor Portland managed to score 20 points.

In contrast to the first month of the regular season, where Memphis was among the worst defenses.

“We’ve made adjustments and it’s working,” rejoices Jalen Wells. “We’re very aggressive and we have elite defenders like Zach Edey and Jaren Jackson Jr. Then Vince Williams, Cedric Coward and myself, we can defend the opponent’s best players and playmakers. It all works as a unit and you just have to wear teams down in the first three quarters.”

Strong with weak, weak with strong?

This good dynamic for Memphis can also be explained by a softer schedule, since in the last ten games the Grizzlies won only against teams with a negative result. Conversely, they lost to the Nuggets and twice to the Spurs, both positive.

More broadly, the Tennessee franchise has a 10-3 record against negative teams. However, the Grizzlies have won just one of their eleven games against positive teams.

“Of course we have to show the same level of intensity and success against the best teams in our conference,” Jaylen Wells confirms. “We have to be consistent and continue to believe in what we are doing. This is a good moment to work on small details that you cannot change when you play almost every day. Now we can make video sessions, rest a little and recover some players. »

Memphis will play two games against the Clippers and Jazz before being able to test their defense against a tougher team during a trip to Minnesota on Dec. 17.