It goes without saying how important Morant is to the Grizzlies. After the game, Grizzlies coach Tyler Jenkins told reporters that X-rays on the hand were negative. Morant writhed on the floor in pain, went to the locker room, then returned to the bench with his right hand heavily bandaged.
Morant took a tumble from high in the air and tried to break his fall with his right hand, which bent awkwardly when he landed. With less than six minutes left in the game, Ja Morant re-injured his right hand as he drove to the basket and collided with Anthony Davis. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are not only left to deal with the Game 1 loss, but also, potentially, the loss of their superstar. LeBron James added 21 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Davis had 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting, 12 rebounds, three steals and a playoff career-high seven blocks. The usual suspects also shined on both ends of the court. Hachimura tied Mychal Thompson's record in 1988 for the most points scored off the bench by a Laker in a playoff game. The Lakers also got a huge contribution from Rui Hachimura, who had a team-high 29 points on 11-for-14 shooting off the bench, including going 5-for-6 from beyond the 3-point line. The seventh-seeded Lakers, who were underdogs entering this series, now have a 1-0 lead over the second-seeded Grizzlies with Game 2 set for Wednesday in Memphis. With just under three minutes left, and the Lakers up 111-109, Reaves scored nine consecutive points to blow the game open for the Lakers. Reaves finished with 23 points, scoring 14 of them in the fourth quarter on 5-for-5 shooting. Still, he had one of the biggest impacts in the team's 128-112 win.
#Grizzles nuggets reddit series#
He's earning just $1.56 million this season, the lowest-paid Los Angeles Laker who got playing time in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Lakers 128, Grizzlies 112: Team effort helps Lakers seize early momentumĬameras caught Austin Reaves flashing a huge smile as he walked through the tunnel at FedExForum. But the fact that he already has to lean this heavily on his top guys is something that should have Suns fans concerned. Maybe he starts staggering his stars, making sure two of his top four are on the court at all times. Just look at the plus/minus numbers: -12 for Wainright, -10 for Okogie, -11 for Biyombo, -8 for Landale, -14 for Shamet, -1 for Ross. In other words: Even Williams was unsure of who he could rely on in this sort of tight, playoff environment.Īnd, honestly, who can blame him? The Clippers ran laps around the Suns anytime one of those reserves stepped foot on the floor. Josh Okogie, Bismack Biyombo, Ish Wainright, Jock Londale and Terrence Ross also all played between four and seven minutes.
The team’s fifth starter, Torrey Craig (27 minutes), and Landry Shamet (24) were the only other Suns to receive more than eight minutes of playing time. Just look at how Suns coach Monty Williams distributed his minutes in Game 1.ĭurant played 45 minutes. This isn’t a hot take from the couch either. It’s just not clear that there’s anyone else that they can rely on. Their top-four of Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton is as good as anyone’s, and might be the best we’ve seen since Durant left Golden State. The Suns’ starting lineup with Durant is probably the best in the NBA. And in their 115-110 Game 1 loss to the Clippers, we saw how the Durant deal has left them exposed. The Suns have not had that opportunity yet. Usually teams need a couple more transaction cycles to plug in the holes along the margins. We saw this in Game 1 on Sunday night, when he torched the LA Clippers with a 27-point, 11-assist, nine-rebound, two-block performance, which also included some smothering defense on Kawhi Leonard and some elite rim protection.īut the problem with midseason trades for stars is that they gut your depth. At this point, it’s hard to put into words just how ridiculously good Durant has become. Trading for Kevin Durant was a no-brainer for the Phoenix Suns. Here are their thoughts from the first Sunday of the postseason.Ĭlippers 115, Suns 110 : Suns facing early depth concerns College Basketball Broadcaster and ReporterįOX Sports writers are providing takeaways from games throughout the NBA playoffs.
0 kommentar(er)
