Grizzlies get unselfish with 34 assists in Hornets win
Jonas Valanciunas caught a lob from Brandon Clarke and then flashed the goggles celebration that Ja Morant made popular last season.
Valanciunas curled his hands over his eyes like Morant does after an assist. After an injury-plagued road trip, the Grizzlies found fun again sharing the ball like they did last season.
Despite just nine healthy players, the Grizzlies had a season-high 34 assists in their 108-93 win over the Hornets in Charlotte on Friday night. As the injured Morant tweeted postgame, “everybody eats” as each player had at least one assist.
Tyus Jones opened the third quarter assisting on five of the Grizzlies’ first six field goals. He added a lob to Brandon Clarke for a layup that got the bench off their feet as they sensed Clarke returning to full health.
Jones had 12 assists, one shy of his career-high. Clarke, who replaced injured Grayson Allen (ankle) in the starting lineup, finished with 15 points in his best Grizzlies game as a starter.
“This is the Grizzlies that you’re used to,” coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We ending up making 14 threes but with 34 assists, that’s a lot of other buckets inside the 3-point line that we created.”
But passing wasn’t the only thing back to form. The Grizzlies (2-3) had 17 fastbreak points and forced 19 turnovers. Anderson rediscovered his scoring touch with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Dillon Brooks had 21 points and Valanciunas’ 14 points and 10 rebounds continued his streak of double-doubles in all five games this season.
Gorgui Dieng (14 points) and Desmond Bane (10 points) led another
strong showing from the bench. John Konchar had his best all-around game with seven points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Hornets (2-3), who led the league with 20.8 fastbreak points per game entering Friday, had just eight against the Grizzlies. Terry Rozier was held to just six points (1-of-11 shooting) after he averaged 24.5 points entering Friday.
The defense was the cherry on top of the Grizzlies winning two of three on this road trip. But with Morant out for at least a month with a sprained ankle, the facilitating is what the Grizzlies needed if they want they stay afloat until his return.
“Ja makes the game a lot easier for everybody else out there but when we don't have him, we have to play with the pass, knock down open shots and find our teammates,” Anderson said.
Up next
The Grizzlies host the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday (5 p.m., Fox Sports Southeast). It's the first of a four-game homestand and it will be the return of Lakers center Marc Gasol, who spent 11 years with the Grizzlies.