The Memphis Grizzlies will bring their impressive new form to Northern California, starting with a matchup against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Winners in 15 of their last 19 games, the Grizzlies will venture down the road to take on the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
The challenging back-to-back will conclude a five-game trip for Memphis, which sandwiched a loss at Oklahoma City between wins at New Orleans and Phoenix over the past seven days.
A 117-112 win over the Suns on Tuesday came without star guard Ja Morant, who is sidelined indefinitely with a sprained right shoulder. Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cam Spencer mostly shared the point guard duties in Phoenix. Spencer, a reigning NCAA champ from Connecticut, played 16 minutes, the third-most of his rookie campaign.
The Grizzlies got production from all nine healthy players against the Suns. They are expecting a 10th to join them in Sacramento as prized rookie Zach Edey attempts to return from a two-game absence due to a concussion.
With key players such as Morant, Marcus Smart, Santi Aldama, Jake LaRavia and Brandon Clarke among those sidelined, Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins recognizes it will take a team effort to sustain the club’s winning ways.
“It starts with our mentality, our competitive fire,” Jenkins said. “To be able to sustain it for 48 minutes just shows poise and resilience.”
That mindset has been particularly helpful on the road, where the short-handed Grizzlies have won five of their last seven games. They won at Boston, Washington and Atlanta before starting their current road trip.
Memphis received double-figure scoring from four different reserves when it won 115-110 at home against the Kings last month. Smart, Aldama and LaRavia combined for 45 of the bench points.
Edey sat out that game with an ankle injury and if he returns Friday, he will go head-to-head with Kings standout big man Domantas Sabonis for the first time.
Sabonis took advantage of Joel Embiid’s night off to contribute 17 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists to a 113-107 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
The Kings have won two of three since firing coach Mike Brown. The victories came over the Dallas Mavericks and 76ers as interim coach Doug Christie has attempted to sell his guys on taking pride in their home crowd.
“Don’t nobody come in your house messing with your stuff. You feel what I’m saying?” Christie said. “This is where we reside, and when you come up in here, you’re going to feel us up in here. That’s just the way it is. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing like your home. These people deserve that and that’s what we’re going to give them.”
Those who stuck around despite a late nine-point deficit got something to celebrate against the 76ers, when the Kings scored the game’s final 15 points to rally for the six-point win.
De’Aaron Fox, who had 18 points in his earlier head-to-head with Morant, has responded to Christie’s urging to up the intensity at home with 33 and 35 points in the two-game winning streak.
-Field Level Media
