While two of Ja Morant’s main lieutenants were going through difficult times last night, with 9 points for Desmond Bane (at 3/10 shooting) and 8 for Dillon Brooks (at 3/13), Memphis was able to count on the contributions of De’Anthony Melton (14 points) and a Years Jackon Jr imperial.
The interior signed its best playoff game with 33 points (6/9 from 3-pointers) and 10 rebounds. We will remember in particular his heat stroke in the third quarter during which he planted four 3-point baskets.
“When their roster changed (after Draymond Green’s Flagrant II), we started using JJ a bit more onscreen. Ja did a good job of finding him and JJ capitalized on that moment.”, said a Taylor Jenkins not very talkative after the defeat of his people.
An offensive game like this can serve as a trigger for a player who seemed to be looking for a bit during the previous series against Minnesota, completed at 11.8 points on average, at 40% shooting skill. For him, the goal now is to try to do at least as well in the next game.
“Yes, I felt good in the third quarter. But no matter what, I would have felt the same way. It depends on how the game is going. It’s clear that it’s good to manage to find the rhythm at some point. To manage to find him in a match like that is good too. It has to continue on the next match, and move forward ”, he confided. “I was able to continue, my teammates found me. When you start adding a few, the circle looks bigger. I didn’t think too much, and I kept shooting. It was a good feeling”.
No regrets on Ja Morant’s last shot
Although he had a “hot hand”, it was not him but Ja Morant who inherited the last shot, at -1 with four seconds on the clock. And even if his teammate missed his shot, Jaren Jackson Jr has no regrets on this point.
“I’ve seen Ja lay it down thousands of times, and even more so in the big moments. It’s a basket that he can enter with his eyes closed. He sprinted, and he arrived very quickly, so it’s not that easy. But I’m all for taking that last shot every time, and I want him to take it a million more times. I liked that he took it, I just looked, and I immediately told him to think of the next one. And as Ja pointed out, we had already lost Game 1 in the previous round. It’s all now a matter of correcting our little mistakes”he added.
Maintaining morale despite the frustration of this short defeat, and quickly mentally switching to Game 2, this will be the program for the next few hours for the Grizzlies.
“Even if we had won, we would have kept the same mental approach, keeping in mind that it’s a long series, and that we shouldn’t see ourselves as either too good or too bad. It ends one point apart, it was a good battle, but we are already focusing on the next one”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3rlTNWhL_I
| Jaren Jackson Jr. | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saison | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2018-19 | MEM | 58 | 26 | 50.6 | 35.9 | 76.6 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 13.8 |
| 2019-20 | MEM | 57 | 29 | 46.9 | 39.4 | 74.7 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 17.4 |
| 2020-21 | MEM | 11 | 24 | 42.4 | 28.3 | 83.3 | 1.6 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 14.4 |
| 2021-22 | MEM | 78 | 27 | 41.5 | 31.9 | 82.3 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 5.8 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 16.3 |
| Total | 204 | 27 | 45.3 | 35.1 | 79.1 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 15.8 | |