The Memphis Grizzlies keep on winning, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss their unbeaten start as a coincidence. Their early victories could perhaps be explained by a favourable schedule and the element of surprise, but neither argument holds much weight anymore. Memphis travelled to Portland’s Moda Center to face another unbeaten team that had emerged as one of the early surprises of the season.
And with a convincing 124-103 victory, the Grizzlies showed that they might just be the biggest surprise of all.
Tuomas Iisalo’s side have moved into a share of the lead in the Western Conference, level with the Houston Rockets as the only two remaining unbeaten teams. They achieved this by shutting down a Blazers side that had been producing impressive offensive performances and had also won every game so far. But against Memphis, Portland struggled to find a way into the paint and failed to make their shots from beyond the arc, leaving their usually potent offence looking ineffective.
A defensive wall
The Grizzlies knew exactly what they needed to do to win this game. Portland had impressed with their three-point shooting in the opening games, but much of their offence still relied on getting into the paint and creating opportunities from there. Memphis made that approach almost impossible, shutting down driving lanes and denying the Blazers space inside. And as the game progressed, the visitors grew increasingly confident as their defensive strategy continued to pay off.
Only Deni Avdija was able to create openings with any regularity, proving stronger, quicker or smarter than his defenders, and sometimes all three. But even his influence began to fade as the game progressed. Memphis may be a young team, but they are anything but soft. As the visitors increased their physicality and defensive intensity, while also limiting Avdija’s opportunities to attack in transition, he became increasingly ineffective. And with him went much of Portland’s attacking threat.
Portland might have been able to compensate for their struggles inside with better shooting from beyond the arc, but there was little sign of the team that had been averaging 17 three-pointers per game coming into this contest. The Blazers shot just 12-for-49 (24.5%) from deep, allowing Memphis to pack the paint even further, with only Toumani Camara consistently making them pay from outside. Lillard (1-for-9) was closely guarded and largely restricted to catch-and-shoot opportunities, while the Grizzlies showed excellent judgement in deciding which shooters they could afford to leave open. The result was a series of mistakes and missed shots that brought one of the league’s most productive offences to a standstill.
And so, the Portland side that had scored at least 124 points in every previous game didn’t even reach the 100-point mark until garbage time.
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