Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Kyle Anderson Helps Grizzlies Outlast Nets in Brooklyn
Posted By Sharon Brown on Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 12:57 PM
New Jersey's own Kyle Anderson was the man of the match and led his team to victory with a career-high 28 points, while going 9 of 17 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range (a career high). It was the second game in a row in which Anderson scored 20 or more points. In three games this season, Anderson is averaging 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds.
Kyle was last night's @MichelobULTRA #GrizzPlayerOfTheGame. pic.twitter.com/nrnpiqb2Ai
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) December 29, 2020
Dillon Brooks finished with a season high season-high 24 points, plus seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Brooks was complimentary of Anderson after the game.
Brooks continued, "He’s leading us. We have a whole bunch of leaders on this team. It was Kyle today. It’s Ja. It’s Jaren, guys like that. We have a whole bunch of alpha males who want to play unselfish and you see it today."
After struggling in the first two games, the Grizzlies bench came alive. Brandon Clarke found his groove again, leading the reserves with a season-high 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Tyus Jones chipped in nine points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Grizzlies bench outscored Brooklyn's reserves 40-35.
A Scary Injury for the Grizzlies
Memphis fans were holding their collective breath when, with 2:43 left to play in the first half, Ja Morant went up for a block, came down hard on the foot of Brooklyn Nets guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and hobbled off the floor in obvious pain. The 21-year old was quickly attended to by both the Grizzlies and Nets medical staff, and was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair. He was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain.
X-Rays on Memphis guard Ja Morant's left ankle reveal no fracture, sources tell ESPN. Team will await results of an MRI as soon as Tuesday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 29, 2020
“Unbelievable display of resiliency by our group,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins after the win. “We came in with the mentality that we needed to get one pretty soon — we needed to play our best Grizzlies basketball. I thought we came out with an unbelievable edge in the first quarter but it was so tough to see Ja [Morant] go down. I know he’s going to bounce back and be fine. We'll have more updates as we're going through, but so far so good."
Jenkins added, "[Morant's] going to get looked at more this evening, post-game, and tomorrow. We will probably have an update tomorrow once we get to Boston."
Morant returned to the bench wearing a left ankle boot in the fourth quarter to cheer on his team.
🙏 💙 pic.twitter.com/IbYiKytYj8
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) December 29, 2020
“Ja came back and brought a bunch of energy to the bench and it really helped us,” said Clarke after the game. “Ja is just a guy who wants to win and even if he’s not playing he still find ways to help us win. It was awesome he could come in and do that.”
Jonas Valanciunas posted on Twitter dedicating the win to his fallen teammate.
The first one is the hardest! This one's for Ja 🙏 pic.twitter.com/WanxvNQJKH
— Jonas Valanciunas (@JValanciunas) December 29, 2020
Morant took to Instagram regarding his injury.
Like the Grizzlies, the Nets were short-handed, as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant both sat out on the second night of a back-to-back. Spencer Dinwiddle is out for an extended period of time due to a partial ACL tear.
Memphis native Chris Chiozza led Brooklyn's bench unit with a career-high 14 points and four assists. Caris LeVert garnered his first double-double of the season with 28 points, 11 assists, and five steals. LeVert led his team in points, assists, and steals on the night. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (TLC) added 21 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
Up Next
The Grizzlies head to Boston to take on the Celtics on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 6:30 p.m. inside TD Garden.
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