What a way to start off the decade for our next generation Grizzlies as they force themselves into the conversation of the final coveted spot in the Western Conference Playoffs.
Since the start of the new year as of January 21, the Memphis Grizzlies have gone 7-2, winning 10 out of the last 14 games, including two big wins against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets. The real question is can they sustain this momentum until April?
There is no doubt the young core of Ja Morant (17.9 points per game) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (17.8 ppg) will be a threat to be dealt with in the NBA for years to come, but even now they are outdoing expectations. Their pick and roll game is seemingly unstoppable, Ja Morant is running away with the Rookie of the Year Award by a landslide, and the entire team plays hard on both ends of the court.
Head coach Taylor Jenkins deserves a majority of the credit because it is hard to motivate a young team to give it their all on both ends and expect them to compete for a playoff spot. Just ask the Atlanta Hawks.
The Grizzlies have a shot to keep it up. If they keep focusing game-to-game rather than who is next on the schedule, I am going to say they will make it. In a young team, one loss can be devastating and make them lose focus on the next game. NBA veterans will be the first to tell you that one of the biggest keys to building a strong-minded team is to take each loss and move on immediately.
Even given that, this is still the wild Western Conference and any of the teams directly under the Grizzlies in the standings have the potential to get hot out of nowhere, especially as we soon start to approach the trade deadline.
You can book the Spurs and the Trailblazers to be in the mix, as they sit in the 9th and 10th seed respectively. Coach Popovich has been in the playoffs since 1998, tying the record for the most consecutive playoff appearances at 22. They are currently a half game back from tying the Grizzlies from the 8th seed, and there is no doubt the Spurs will have something to prove as the season begins to near its end.
But who better to prove what kind of team they are than the team that has always outdone expectations? The Blazers seem to never be in the serious mix of contenders, yet they always prove the critics wrong like when they basically broke up the Oklahoma City Thunder by beating them in the first round at the buzzer, no thanks to Damian Lillard. They reached the Western Conference Finals in a losing effort and even still weren’t considered serious contenders at the start of this season. For once, we might actually be right.
They signed Carmelo Anthony, who is all about proving us wrong and, make no mistake about it, he has. Put all those factors in and I have to say that they might just have the best shot to make it just out of experience, how deep their team is, and their dependable dynamic frontcourt.
The New Orleans Pelicans finally get the debut they’ve anticipated in Zion Williamson since landing the first pick in the draft back in Spring 2019. I have no idea how they will pan out for the rest of the season because they are so young. Even though they have been winning recently, now they have to mesh Zion’s game with Brandon Ingram’s, who has made quite the case to be an All-Star this year, and Lonzo Ball’s, who has been making a new name for himself. They are motivated, but they are too wide-eyed and fresh.
So no matter who your team is, this is going to be one crazy ride to April. Nothing is guaranteed, and everything will have to be earned.
