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Coaches love to talk about how offense wins games, but defense wins championships. By that metric, Ja Morant's highly entertaining Memphis Grizzlies have some work to do, and they know it. Taylor Jenkins appreciated the offensive explosion in a 155-126 victory over the Toronto Raptors. However, the franchise's all-time wins leader was not happy with the first-half defensive effort. Neither was Morant.
“I thought compared to the last game, we were able to get into a bit of an offensive groove in the first quarter, the first half,” Jenkins allowed. “We were able to sustain that throughout the game. The 36 assists and 150-plus points were great, but continued to challenge them in the first half. I thought we were lackadaisical (on defense).
Fans were celebrating a franchise record for points scored. The Grizzlies (21-10) also top the charts for most points scored this season. Still, Ja Morant echoed Jenkins in worrying more about the defense, which led to a ‘crazy' points total.
“It's crazy to me, honestly, scoring that many points,” Morant admitted. “And then to have moments in the game where you have droughts on both ends of the floor and still have 155 is crazy. It felt like we let them score way too many points, but we just stuck with it and continued to play together. I think it was 30-plus assists again. Everybody is just clicking. The ball is moving around, and we are playing unselfish. That's the type of basketball we get when everybody is in a rhythm. It benefits us in a lot of ways, as you can see.”
Jenkins credited two halftime adjustments for the turnaround. Memphis set a better tone collectively, and RJ Barrett could not get by a new primary defender in relentless Grizzlies rookie Jaylen Wells.
“We changed up our matchups in the third quarter, and I thought (Jaylen Wells) did a pretty solid job on Barrett. Not letting him get going (in the third quarter) after he got going in the first half,” Jenkins said. “When we started clamping down, you could feel the momentum really shift. Despite having a halftime lead, giving up 70 points is very uncharacteristic. I'm glad our guys responded.”
It's not like the Grizzlies did not know what was coming from the upstart Raptors, per Jenkins. Getting up to speed just took longer than expected.
“We knew they were going to play fast. The paint was a priority. RJ Barrett got wherever he wanted in the first half. He got his points and had eight assists,” Jenkins noted. “They were putting us into rotations, and guys were feeling comfortable from the three-point line without any resistance. I thought in the third quarter we come out and set a better tone.”
