Grizzlies say they have ‘swagger’ back after crushing Nuggets for first win vs. playoff team in over a month

What’s wrong with the Memphis Grizzlies? That had been one of the big questions around the league over the past month. The answer, at least on Saturday night, was nothing. They led by as much as 35 en route to a dominant 112-94 win over the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets. 

In late January, the Grizzlies were 31-13 and riding an 11-game winning streak into a primetime matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. That night they got into a bizarre on-court beef with NFL legend Shannon Sharpe and collapsed in the fourth quarter to suffer a one-point loss. 

Those events started a tailspin that they didn’t pull out of until Saturday. On either side of the All-Star break they were 4-10 in their last 14 games with the fifth-worst offense in the league (109.7 offensive rating) in that span. None of those wins came against teams that currently have a winning record and they were 0-5 against other top-six teams in either conference. That included a second-half meltdown on Thursday in what ended up being a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

All of which made Saturday’s showdown with the Nuggets even more important. The Grizzlies seemed to sense as much, as they grabbed control late in the first quarter and never let go. 

With Tyus Jones leading the way with five triples off the bench, the Grizzlies hit 15 3-pointers, their most in a game since Jan. 16, and feasted in the paint for 60 points. Getting their offense going was important, but the biggest factor in the win came on the other side of the ball. The Grizzlies have been one of the best defensive teams in the league this season, and showed why as they limited Nikola Jokic to 15 points, 13 rebounds and, crucially, just three assists. His three assists tied was a season low, which also happened in a Nov. 11 loss at Boston. 

“Holding Jokic to three assists, that doesn’t happen often,” Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “I thought there was a lot of great discipline. They’ve got good cutters, our rotations out to the 3-point line, trying to make his finishes as tough as possible, make his entries as tough as possible, try to wear him out as much as possible. Kudos to [Xavier Tillman], he’s done a phenomenal job the last two games against two of the best bigs in the game. And then collectively I thought our defense was really good.”

This win was the first for the Grizzlies against another playoff team since they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 18. After all of the recent on-court struggles and off-court drama — a report earlier this month indicated the Grizzlies were investigated for an incident in which the Indiana Pacers claimed a gun with a laser was pointed at their bus inside FedEx Forum by Ja Morant’s associates — this felt like a statement win for the Grizzlies. 

They’ll need to build on it, but it was a reminder of why they still have the fifth-best record in the league. 

“We had that [swagger] back against Philly, it just didn’t end the way it was supposed to,” Xavier Tillman said. “You see we got the swagger back and now we’re on a roll now.”