DENVER, Colo. — The Grizzlies tried to come away with a win against the Denver Nuggets to conclude the 7-game, 13-day road trip, but they ran out of gas in the second half, and Denver pulled away beating Memphis 120-96.
This first half of the game started off slow for both teams, but the Grizzlies managed to hang around to keep things interesting. Memphis trailed 21-18 to end the first quarter and was down only by 5 at the half.
But midway through the third quarter, Denver locked in on offense, and Memphis couldn’t keep up, which allowed the Nuggets to run away for the rest of the game.
After the game, Grizzlies’ head coach Taylor Jenkins said despite losing to Denver to conclude the road trip, it was a success overall.
“Absolutely, it’s been a great road trip,” Jenkins said. “Looking forward to more great basketball moving forward.”
Jenkins added he and his team are looking forward to returning to the Bluff City and being with their families, after playing on the longest road trip in franchise history.
The Grizzlies ended the night shooting 42% from the field, but they couldn’t buy a bucket from behind the arc, as they collectively only made 4 of their 32, 3-point attempts.
Add poor shooting and Dillon Brooks finding himself in foul trouble early on, the Grizzlies just couldn’t keep up with this Nuggets team, led by Michael Porter Jr., who finished the night with 31 points.
Jenkins didn’t go into detail about why his team struggled offensively, he just said Denver “played great.”
Ja Morant led the way for the Grizzlies. Morant finished the night with 27 points shooting 10-15 from the field with 6 boards and 6 assists.
After the game, Grayson Allen said Morant is getting better day by day which is making things easier for the rest of the team.
“Ja is shooting with confidence and he’s catching it in rhythm and he’s not thinking about it,” Allen said. “He’s letting it fly and shooting with confidence. That makes him even harder to guard, and it takes our offense to another level.”
Allen also echoed Jenkins by saying overall the 7-game, 13-day road trip was a success. He said it was great to get four wins on the road against great teams.
Now the Grizzlies will head back to Memphis and get ready to potentially sweep the Portland Trail Blazers on the season. Memphis won both road games versus Portland and will play them for a final time this regular season on Wednesday.
