The Memphis Grizzlies come home on Wednesday looking to extend their winning streak to seven games when they host the Portland Trail Blazers.
Memphis won its sixth straight and ninth in the last 10 games, despite playing Tuesday’s first leg of a back-to-back without All-Star Ja Morant. Morant was scratched from the lineup due to an ankle injury shortly before tipoff of the Grizzlies’ 121-109 win at New Orleans.
Tyus Jones filled Morant’s void in the starting lineup and delivered a career-high 27 points with nine assists.
“He’s been doing that all season long when he’s had to step into the starting lineup,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said in his postgame press conference. “He gives us a boost off the bench. He’s been doing a lot of things that impact winning, and I thought tonight was a prime example of that.”
With 13 consecutive games scoring at least 23 points — including a stretch of 9-of-10 in which he finished with at least 30 — Morant has been the catalyst of Memphis’ success. But Tuesday’s performance showcased the team’s depth, with six Grizzlies scoring at least 11 points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 23 points, Brandon Clarke added 18 with eight rebounds off the bench, and Steven Adams went for 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
Portland brings its own winning streak of three games into Memphis, coming off a 122-107 victory at reigning NBA champion Milwaukee on Monday.
“Wire-to-wire, that was probably our best game of just executing what we wanted to do on both sides,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said in his postgame press conference.
Anfernee Simons led a new-look Blazers team with 31 points, while Josh Hart — one of four players and two future draft picks acquired from New Orleans in a trade for CJ McCollum, Tony Snell and Larry Nance Jr. made last week — scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor.
Hart hit 5-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc to complement Simons’ 7-of-16 from deep. Simons is 18-of-39 from beyond the arc over Portland’s three-game winning streak, which began with a 107-105 defeat of the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 9.
Simons has set the scoring pace in all three wins, scoring 29 points against Los Angeles and 30 in a 112-103 win over New York on Saturday. That night marked Hart’s debut with Portland, and he scored 23 points.
“These guys have been playing hard. They have great attention to detail, and the wins will follow,” Hart said in Monday’s postgame press conference.
Portland has picked up its offensive production during its winning streak. Before the last three games, the Blazers failed to score 100 points in four of their previous five, and lost the last six before the Feb. 9 victory over the Lakers.
The six-game skid was Portland’s second worst of the season. The Blazers dropped seven in a row in December, a stretch that concluded with a 113-103 loss to the Grizzlies.
Portland scored revenge four days later on Dec. 19 in Memphis, winning 105-100. The Blazers also won the first matchup this season, 116-96 back on Oct. 27.
Damian Lillard, who had 21 points with four assists and 32 points with five assists in the two Portland wins over Memphis, has not played since Dec. 31. The six-time All-NBA selection and NBA 75th Anniversary honoree underwent abdominal surgery on Jan. 13 and has no set timetable for his return.
