Win over Lakers in the rearview with team losing Winslow to injury
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins can admit now, almost five months after his favorite win of this season, that he was wondering the same thing you were.
The Grizzlies were on a five-game losing streak coming out of the Allstar break. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brandon Clarke were injured and not playing. Justise Winslow hadn’t made his Memphis debut because of a lingering back injury. And the Los Angeles Lakers, the best team in the Western Conference featuring Lebron James and Anthony Davis, arrived at Fedexforum to face the Grizzlies, who were on the second night of a back-toback.
“Everyone could be screaming this could be a deep dive for us,” Jenkins said Saturday, recounting that resounding 105-88 win over the Lakers on Feb. 29. “That really just encapsulated our resiliency. No matter the situation, no matter the lineups, no matter the team or opponent.”
Jenkins said this before Magic Johnson tweeted that he should be the NBA’S Coach of the Year this season, and before Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones did the same. He said this before Winslow suffered a season-ending hip injury that altered whatever plans Jenkins had for the Disney World bubble.
Jenkins said this and it was a reminder that throughout this joyful Grizzlies season that took us all by
surprise, their rookie coach largely avoided the spotlight. Whether Memphis was losing or winning, Jenkins flew under the radar.
Given the format of the NBA’S restart, with eight seeding games beginning next week that will feel more like a sprint toward (hopefully) a Memphis playoff berth, he probably won’t anymore.
What soon will come into focus, perhaps as early as Friday’s scrimmage against the Philadelphia 76ers, is that every decision Jenkins makes will be magnified from here on out. Every substitution, every timeout, every shot will be scrutinized.
Now, who Jenkins starts alongside Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, Jackson and Jonas Valanciunas, and what lineups he plays in general, and even who he plays at the end of the bench, will be debated after every game.
Should he go small with Morant and super-sub De’anthony Melton in the backcourt and Brooks on the wing? (My suggestion: Yes.) How often does he use Morant off the ball, with either Melton or Jones handling point guard duties? (Not too much.) Will he play Josh Jackson or Kyle Anderson more now that Winslow is out? (Jackson.)
Perhaps Clarke can be used on the wing to create a huge lineup with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Valanciunas (Resist the temptation). Should Clarke be used with Jaren Jackson Jr. in the frontcourt during crunch time (Probably), or can Valanciunas stay on the floor in those situations (Only if the matchup is right)?
Whatever Jenkins’ answers to those questions might be, there will be more people than ever before with their own opinion.
Jenkins faced a lot of this during the first 65 games of this season and handled it well more often than not. But this will be different because the stakes are so different. Each of the choices Jenkins must make are more significant than when he had to make them five months ago.
The Grizzlies have enviable depth, even with Winslow gone. There are as many as 13 players on the roster who at various times this season produced for them. It means Jenkins will have to make some unenviable decisions. It means he will be second-guessed if those decisions don’t work.
Part of the joy from this particular season, though, is how the Grizzlies surprised us.
How they were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA, and then became one of the 22 teams in Orlando right now.
How this group of 20-somethings had a 6-16 record after 22 games, and then won 60% of its games over a threemonth span.
How the youngest NBA head coach still coaching at the moment was supposed to look like a rookie head coach, and then rarely did.
How when the season looked like it might fall apart, with injuries and losses mounting after the All-star break, the Grizzlies went and blew out the Lakers when we least suspected it.
Perhaps that’s why Saturday, before Winslow went down and before one of the NBA’S all-time greats declared Jenkins the NBA’S Coach of the Year, Jenkins initially couldn’t settle on a favorite moment this year.
“Honestly, the entire season,” he said.
So maybe nothing should surprise us anymore.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto