How do you celebrate being all star for the first time and do it with headline gallons? Well, like this, neither more nor less: 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Ja Morant’s fourth career triple-double, who has taken the definitive direction towards stardom in this third season in which there is no news of Zion Williamson, the player chosen ahead of him in the 2019 draft (number 1 and 2).
Morant signed his umpteenth exhibition of the course against Mike Conley, his predecessor as axis of the Memphis Grizzlies. The point guard returned to Tennessee with some Jazz that are made some foxes: 119-109 end and an increasingly obvious gap between third and fourth in the West: 34-17 by 30-20, three and a half games and the tiebreaker (2-0 to Grizzlies in head-to-head with one game remaining, in April). The Jazz have gone from being the third in discord behind the Suns and Warriors to being fourth… and with their sights increasingly set on the Mavericks and Nuggets, who are hot on their heels. They have gone six games without Donovan Mitchell and three without Rudy Gobert. Y they have lost four in a row and ten of the last twelve, something unusual in the It was Quin Snyder.
The Grizzlies, the sensation of the West (the Cavaliers are the one of the East) settle on the podium of the Conference with a brilliant victory but that needed work in the fourth quarter against a Jazz that tried hard but did not have enough talent. Not without Mitchell or Gobert and on a bad day in the shooting of Bogdanovic (5/16 for 13 points) and Clarkson (4/13 for 13). Daniel House (21 points) worked hard to earn a full time contract, Conley finished with 15 and 6 assists in what was his home (he was applauded, of course) and the Jazz continue to get into trouble with another tough game in sight: tomorrow they visit the Timberwolves.
The Grizzlies are recovering troops, although they are still without important pieces like Dillon Brooks and Tyus Jones. But in addition to the ubiquitous Ja Morant, they have Desmond Bane (17 points), Brandon Clarke (22 and all the dirty work), Melton (13+9+6) and a Jaren Jackson Jr who continues to shine as an intimidator: 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 blocks (He has 45 in the last 11 games). That the Grizzlies are a reality is something that has been obvious for weeks. Also, more and more, that right now they are a superior team to these opaque Jazz. It is what it is.
PELICANS 105-NUGGETS 116
The Nuggets (27-21) are one of the guys who are going after the Jazz because they keep winning games no matter the circumstances. Partly thanks to the fact that Nikola Jokic does not leave any party in the unread message box. In New Orleans, the Serb seemed tired, like his entire team, nervous, with foul problems and not wanting to stick in the zone. But, above all thanks to a great third quarter, he finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists and directed a suffered victory against a Pelicans without Brandon Ingram or Jonas Valanciunas. And that they are the worst team from the line of three (around 30%) in January: 5/34 this time with 1/13 in the first quarter after which they lost 26-17.
The Nuggets gritted their teeth, with Monte Morris (13+8+8) strongly defending a Devonte’ Graham who ended up with knee problems. Aaron Gordon had 20 points and Facundo Campazzo (0 points, 1 assist, less than 8 minutes) loses weight in the backcourt, with minutes for newcomer Forbes (14 points) and more command in the direction of rookie Bones Hyland (6 and 4 assists). The Nuggets have won nine of the last twelve games. On the Pelicans, who worked hard, another great game from rookie Herb Jones, a find (19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals for a player with tremendous defensive application); Y Another good start from Willy Hernangómez: 18 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. The Spaniard is responding, having completely dropped out of the rotation, and has shown his face in two games in which, without Valanciunas, the Pelicans have played against the two greats. inner beasts of the NBA, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. In those two games Willy has put up 47 points and 26 rebounds. Good feelings for Madrid. It’s 18-30 now for the Pelicans, two and a half games out of the zone play in.
ROCKETS 110-TRAIL BLAZERS 125
that area of play in closes it, in tenth place in the West, Portland Trail Blazers, a team that refuses to get off the tanking territory and that he is putting a lot of heart against adversity, the worst being the absence (surely for the entire season) of Damian Lillard. But he has recovered CJ McCollum (26 points and 5 assists), who together with Jusuf Nurkic (25 and 13 rebounds) and Anfernee Simons (27 and 6 assists) led the victory in Houston, where the Rockets have beaten their worst record at home: ten straight losses. They haven’t won on their track since December 8 and they are the first team in history to lose ten games in a row at home, all by nine points or more. With the uncorking of Simons, who plays Lillard, the return of McCollum and the contribution of Nurkic, Powell and Covington, the Blazers hold on to 10th place in the West. In the Rockets, almost nothing: 21 + 15 of Christian Wood, which we will see if it comes out in the winter market, and the license to throw it all away with which Jalen Green plays, the number 2 of the last draft: 17 + 5 + 5 with a 4/11 in shots.