The Grizzlies moved to 20-18 in a wild, record-setting night at FedExForum, setting a new season high in points, assists (33), and three-pointers (11) en route to tying the franchise record for consecutive home wins with seven.
A lot to look at coming out of this one. A few of the things I took away:
1. The Best They Can Be: The Grizzlies starting five has had plenty of time to build chemistry this season, having played nearly 75 more minutes as a unit than any other five-man group in the NBA this season. But that starting five has probably never been better than they were against an overmatched Timberwolves squad Friday night.
On the season, the Grizzlies — 11th in offensive efficiency — have been a good offensive team despite getting very little production from the bench. And they’ve done this despite a series of lingering problems: Aside from the bench, the Grizzlies this season have generally been plagued by a lack of three-point shooting (29th in attempts per game, 25th in percentage), poor assist production (27th in assist ratio; an overrated problem but a problem nonetheless), too many turnovers (19th in turnover ratio, and number that’s been improving of late), and inconsistent play from starting point guard Mike Conley.
But against the Timberwolves, none of these things were problems: The Grizzlies hit 11-23 from three-point range (10-15 from starters), notched 33 assists (28 from starters), only nine turnovers (only four from the starters), and Mike Conley had one of his best games of the season (18 points, 8 assists, 1 turnover, 7-10 shooting).