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High-scoring Grizzlies to face leaky Pelicans’ defense next

A C Gazette
By A C Gazette
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NBA: Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis GrizzliesDec 23, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells (0) reacts during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
The Memphis Grizzlies’ offense is on a remarkable roll, setting up a quite favorable matchup on Friday night when they visit a New Orleans Pelicans team that’s having a hard time slowing anybody down.

In their last five victories, the Grizzlies have averaged 140.4 points. That includes an NBA season-high and franchise-record 155 in routing the visiting Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.

“We’re just moving the ball,” said rookie forward Jaylen Wells, who was one of eight Memphis scorers in double figures against Toronto, finishing with 17 points. “A lot of guys had a lot of assists. We’re playing fast, and we’re hitting a lot of threes.”

Nine Grizzlies combined for 36 assists as the team made 58 of 109 field goal attempts. Wells made a team-high five 3-pointers in 10 attempts, and Memphis finished 18 of 45 (40 percent) from beyond the arc.

Just a week earlier, the Grizzlies made a franchise-record 27 treys in 48 attempts during a 144-93 blowout of visiting Golden State, which was the largest margin of victory in the league this season.

The Grizzlies, who have won 13 of their last 16 games, didn’t have their best defensive game against Toronto. They led 78-70 at halftime and allowed 100 points through three quarters, though they entered the fourth quarter with a 21-point lead.

“Giving up 70 points in one half is very uncharacteristic, and I’m glad our guys responded,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “When we started clamping down, you could feel the momentum really shift.”

Memphis’ halftime point total was its highest in any half this season and the Grizzlies lead the NBA with an average of 123.7 points per game.

They seem to have a good opportunity to surpass that mark against a New Orleans team that has allowed an average of 120.9 points during its eight-game losing streak.

The Pelicans never led and fell behind the visiting Houston Rockets 39-22 at the end of the first quarter of a 128-111 loss Thursday night. It was New Orleans’ 17th defeat in their last 18 games.

Coach Willie Green, who has routinely praised his players for their toughness and competitiveness while playing without multiple injured key players in nearly every game this season, felt differently Thursday.

“(It was) just a lack of competitiveness from our guys from start to finish,” Green said. “We were just soft tonight — period. There are times when you’re going to go against good teams and you may go down. But, like I told our team, we can’t step on our home court and have that lack of physicality.”

The Rockets scored a combined 261 points in two lopsided victories against the Pelicans in eight days, having won 133-113 in Houston on Dec. 19.

Forward Herbert Jones lamented the Pelicans’ inadequate effort and “sense of urgency.”

“We’ve all got to be better in that aspect,” Jones said. “I don’t really care how much we lose by. I’m more concerned about how we lose, and we can’t lose like that. We’ve got to be better defensively. We’ve got to be more physical.”

–Field Level Media

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