It was Torrey Craig who set the tone. As Dillon Brooks went on the counterattack (but had trouble controlling the ball), the Suns winger came back to counter his opponent, and recover the throw-in. He followed his “block” with a look black on the Memphis player, to send a clear message to the latter.
“I just made it clear to him that we were there, and that we were going to be there all evening” explains Torrey Craig. “I made it clear to him that it was going to be that kind of meeting for them. »
The Grizzlies had given the Suns a lesson a few days ago (125-100). There was revenge in the air.
“The first time we played them, they were the aggressors. They were talking. I just wanted to let them know that we can do the same, and even more.” continues Torrey Craig. “We hear it in the press, on the field, everywhere… I wanted to let them know that we could do the same thing. »
While they had taken the lead in the Western Conference, the Grizzlies indeed spoke a lot, Ja Morant having even declared that he was not afraid of anyone in the West, only the Celtics really scaring him…
Confidence… that motivates opponents
“Everyone sees the provocations and everything they do to motivate themselves” continues Duane Washington Jr. “That’s how they decided to motivate themselves, do what they want to do and stay focused.”
Have the Tennessee players talked too much? In any case, Ja Morant’s declaration risks serving as motivation for a lot of teams in the West, while the leader and his team, lacking in skill and defense, have just lost against the Thunder, the Nuggets , the Warriors and now the Suns in four of their last five outings.
“People want to release everything Ja says because it’s Ja” assures Jaren Jackson Jr. “He’s not wrong, and I don’t see why he wouldn’t trust himself, or his teammates. »
The concern is that we must assume, and that if the Grizzlies are dominant when they are the aggressors, they must also be when they find the respondent in front.
“I have the feeling, this season, that when the opponent responds, we freeze” concludes Dillon Brooks.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Ja Morant | 27 | 32.4 | 45.3 | 33.1 | 73.0 | 1.3 | 5.1 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 26.8 |
| Desmond Bane | 14 | 32.2 | 43.9 | 41.0 | 91.4 | 0.4 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 23.0 |
| Dillon Brooks | 29 | 30.8 | 41.1 | 34.2 | 78.3 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 3.3 | 17.8 |
| Jaren Jackson, Jr. | 16 | 25.0 | 51.4 | 36.6 | 76.0 | 1.8 | 4.3 | 6.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 16.6 |
| Tyus Jones | 32 | 23.8 | 44.8 | 37.8 | 76.2 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 10.5 |
| Brandon Clarke | 32 | 19.8 | 65.5 | 16.7 | 73.8 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 10.3 |
| Santi Aldama | 31 | 23.9 | 47.6 | 37.5 | 72.3 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 9.9 |
| steven adams | 29 | 26.3 | 58.8 | 0.0 | 33.3 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 10.3 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 7.8 |
| John Konchar | 30 | 26.2 | 44.8 | 37.7 | 84.2 | 1.1 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| David Roddy | 31 | 18.9 | 40.2 | 28.8 | 63.6 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 6.7 |
| Zaire Williams | 8 | 18.2 | 32.6 | 8.7 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 4.3 |
| Jake Laravia | 20 | 15.9 | 41.7 | 38.0 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 4.2 |
| Xavier Tillman, Sr. | 17 | 9.9 | 61.4 | 33.3 | 42.9 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 3.6 |
| Kenny Lofton, Jr. | 5 | 4.6 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 33.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 3.0 |
| Kennedy Chandler | 14 | 10.5 | 37.5 | 16.7 | 42.9 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.9 |
| Vincent Williams, Jr. | 6 | 6.6 | 27.3 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.2 |
