The Portland Trail Blazers are still standing as one of the NBA’s last unbeaten teams after knocking off the Los Angeles Lakers, 136-129, and they’ve got another chance to keep that spotless start alive Thursday night.
Portland’s win over Los Angeles was the first blemish of the season for the Lakers and also the opening game of a four-matchup regular season set between the two teams. The Blazers had to dig out of a 73-68 halftime hole, but they flipped the game with a huge second half, putting up 68 points after the break to finish the job.
Deni Avdija and Ja Morant led the charge with 23 points apiece. Avdija added four rebounds and a team-high nine assists, while Morant was especially sharp, hitting 69.2 percent of his shots from the field.
Damian Lillard added 21 points and knocked down half of his eight attempts from beyond the arc. Jrue Holiday gave Portland another lift off the bench with 22 points and three assists.
That kind of backcourt production has been a major reason Portland has looked so dangerous early on, and the guard rotation will be asked to carry the load again when the Blazers face another unbeaten team in the Memphis Grizzlies.
Memphis has been one of the league’s early surprises as well, riding Ty Jerome’s scoring to a 4-0 start. Jerome enters Thursday ranked third in the NBA with 29.8 points per game.
Portland’s group of Morant, Lillard, Holiday and Scoot Henderson should get plenty of opportunities against a Memphis defense that sits 26th in the league.
The Grizzlies will also lean on rookie Cameron Boozer, who has posted 14.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game despite inefficient shooting through his first four contests.
Morant’s matchup with Memphis adds another layer to the night. Portland landed him in the offseason after months of trade rumors involving multiple teams, and the Blazers brought him in at a heavily discounted price to build one of the deepest backcourts in the Western Conference.
This will be Morant’s first game against the franchise that drafted him. In three games with Portland, the former No. 2 overall pick is averaging 16.3 points and a team-high 6.3 assists. He’s coming off his first 20-point game of the season and will look to keep attacking against a Memphis team that has struggled defensively.
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Kings Desperately Need A Break As Injury Questions Loom In Memphis
The Kings head into Saturdays matchup in Memphis still searching for their first win, and the road trip is not getting any easier. Sacramento is already 0-5 and will be down four key players again, including Keegan Murray and Ben Simmons, when it meets the undefeated Grizzlies in a late-afternoon tip at 5:00 p.m. PT.
Memphis, meanwhile, has its own injury uncertainty to monitor. The Grizzlies listed Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. as questionable, leaving a little bit of suspense around a game that already carries a lopsided feel on paper. For Sacramento, the challenge is obvious: survive the trip, stay competitive and hope the availability picture shifts before the ball goes up. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Face A Bigger Concern Than Sacramento Before Key Test
The Grizzlies are heading into their next meeting with Sacramento with more than the opponent to monitor. Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Quinten Post are all on the injury report, leaving Memphis with real uncertainty in the backcourt and up front as game time approaches. Jerome is dealing with upper back soreness, Pippen with lower back soreness and Post with a right ankle sprain, and all three will be evaluated closer to tipoff.
For a Memphis team trying to keep its footing in a key test, the timing matters as much as the names. Jerome has been the clubs most productive scorer and was central in the earlier win over the Kings, so his status in particular looms large, but the Grizzlies may not know their full rotation until the final availability report comes in. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Fans Just Got More Reason To Watch Trey Murphy III
Trey Murphy III keeps showing up in the conversation around Memphis, even if only in the loose, speculative way that tends to follow a player with a rising profile. The Pelicans wing has been the subject of trade chatter, and his early-season scoring has dipped from last year, which has only added fuel to the idea that rival teams might keep monitoring his situation.
For Grizzlies fans, the intrigue got a little more personal when Ty Jerome chimed in on social media and jokingly floated the idea of Murphy ending up in Memphis. It was the kind of throwaway remark that does not change anything on its own, but it did underline how much attention Murphy is drawing, even as New Orleans still appears to value him as a key part of its future. [Read more 🡒]