The Memphis Grizzlies will look to build on their best stretch of games of the young season when they travel to San Antonio to take on the short-handed Spurs on Tuesday.
Memphis has won three straight and five of its last six, including a 115-107 victory at Sacramento on Sunday. Zach Edey led the Grizzlies with a career-high 32 points, seven more than he had scored in any previous NBA game.
Edey scored all six points in a lead-changing run late in the game, made 16 of 20 from the field and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.
“No second chance points, no easy shots,” Edey said of his mindset. “We’re just rebounding and finishing possessions. “I just see the ball off the rim really well. We just keep piling up the wins. This is exactly where we want to be.”
Cam Spencer added 16 points for Memphis while Jaylen Wells scored 15, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each scored 13 and Cedric Coward had 10 points.
Four of Memphis’ five recent wins have come on the road and all were produced without the services of star guard Ja Morant, who is on the shelf with a right calf injury. The Grizzlies continue to struggle despite a lack of point guard depth as Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe), Ty Jerome (calf) and Javon Small (toe) remain injured.
“The guys put their heads down and kept working day by day,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “This type of win and this road trip as a whole brings a lot of confidence in the work we are doing and that it has a purpose.”
The Spurs return home to the Alamo City after a four-game road trip that ended with a 125-112 loss at Minnesota on Sunday. San Antonio won two of four games on the trip — wins over Portland and Denver earned it a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals — despite playing without star center Victor Wembanyama (calf) and guard Stephon Castle (hip flexor).
Neither is expected to play Tuesday.
De’Aaron Fox scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead San Antonio in Sunday’s loss while Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson finished with 22 points each and rookie Dylan Harper scored 17. The Spurs led by four points heading into the final period, but were outscored 36-19 the rest of the game.
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said the game turned away from his team after halftime.
“It started in the third quarter,” Johnson said. “Our toughness and defensive cohesion was really poor. We turned them over, I think, zero times in the third quarter, so we just didn’t have that level of presence on and off the basketball.
After Tuesday’s game, the Spurs will play six of their next seven games on the road.
“They made shots, we didn’t,” Harper said after Sunday’s loss. “On the defensive end, obviously we could have cleaned up a little bit, but at the end of the day, you know, they made shots, we didn’t. So you know, we’re looking forward to playing at home now.”
The teams played in Memphis on November 18, with the Spurs winning 111-101.
–Field level media
