The Whiteboard: Memphis Grizzlies are building a better bear

Saturday night, the Memphis Grizzlies walked into TD Garden and knocked off the Celtics.

Boston was on a back-to-back in their sixth game in nine nights.

There are things to look at with the rare Boston loss, particularly the strategy Memphis used to disrupt the Celtics’ offense by… leaving Jrue Holiday wide open.

But big picture, it’s also a sign that Memphis is a lot closer to a contender than we thought they might be preseason.

(I want to take a minute to note that the Whiteboard has been … Rockets, Mavericks, Clippers three of the last four days. I wanted to focus on an East team and yet … )

The importance of 3-dimensional chess

In the playoffs, you don’t want one major strength. If you have one major strength, it can get schemed against and attacked.

Memphis is building multiple strengths.

Their leading scorer is Jaren Jackson Jr. whose offensive game has burgeoned over the past two seasons. He’s tied for the second-most post-up points this season with Alperen Sengun and has a full array of offensive moves now, from the floater to the pull-up jumper.

Some of the talk has focused on their once-again supbar halfcourt offense. But Memphis is up to 16th in that category and climbing. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have the 10th best offense vs. top-10 defenses and the 3rd-best defense against top-10 offenses.

Their versatility is also starting to shine. With Brandon Clarke back, the Grizzlies are feasting in his minutes. Clarke gives them a high-energy and smart smallball 4/5 option.

• The Jackson-Clarke minutes are great (plus-11.6 net rating).
• The Clarke smallball minutes are great (plus-9.9).
• The Jackson-Edey minutes are surprisingly good (plus-17.9).
• The Jackson smallball five minutes are above water at plus-1.0.

All this and Ja Morant is shooting 60 percent (35th percentile) at the rim and 30 percent from 3 but is second-highest in assist percentage, while Desmond Bane is shooting 32 percent from 3.

There’s nothing but upside here.

Deeper is better

The Grizzlies will get GG Jackson back next month and have found a diamond in the rough in rookie Jaylen Wells who leads all rookies in impact metrics.

Memphis is also less volatile than they were when they flamed out of the playoffs two years ago. The supporting cast is a little less intense, even if Ja Morant is always fiery.

Jackson and Bane provide a steady, calming presence to ground Morant’s electricity.

Memphis didn’t storm out of the gates and continues to have worrisome injury trends. But the Grizzlies are also managing being tough without writing checks they can’t cash, and the offense seems less like fireworks without impact and more substantitive, on the verge of actually busting loose.

Morant said this week he was trying to stop dunking, then threw down the absolute sickest dunk of the season so far. He can’t help himself.

But for the first time in three years, the Grizzlies seem on the same page in helping each other, and that could mean big things come spring.

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NBA news roundup

• The Heat got a massive win over the Cavaliers 122-113 Sunday. Evan Mobley played just 12 minutes and exited early with an ankle sprain. It marked the first loss this season for the Cavaliers with Dean Wade in the rotation, after starting 16-0. Miami was led by Tyler Herro who continued his incredible season with 34 points and five made 3-pointers. Good time to sell high ...

• Tyrese Maxey recorded his first career triple-double as the Sixers slipped by the Bulls 108-100 with their full compliment of stars for once. The Sixers are 5-5 in their last ten and seem to be creeping back from the edge of oblivion.

• Speaking of off the edge, the Nuggets bounced back from a loss to the Wizards by trouncing the Hawks. Nikola Jokic scored 48, making his two-night back-to-back performance on the East Coast 104 points, 30 rebounds, and 16 assists in a 28-hour period. But the stat that's more interesting to me is that the Hawks are now the only team in the league to both lose to the Wizards and lose to the only other team that beat the Wizards.

• The Warriors got revenge 114-106 over the Wolves after losing to Minnesota last Friday. Draymond Green punctuated the win by driving past Rudy Gobert in isolation for an emphatic dunk. No one will mention that the drive required a pretty devastating backscreen from Steph Curry to get Green to the rack. Green gave Minnesota the "night night" celebration afterward. The drama continues...

5 games to watch this week

THE CUP! Mavericks at Thunder Tuesday 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT: Dallas and OKC renew playoff pleasantries with a spot in Vegas on the line. PJ Washington has been great for Dallas this season and looks ready to pick up where he left off in sinking the Thunder in their Western Conference semifinals matchup last year. My theory? The Texas native just loves beating anything with Oklahoma on it.

THE CUP! Warriors at Rockets Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT: Houston's specific brand of upstart confidence runs into a Warriors team trying to convince itself it's still a contender. Houston's one of the best teams this season against the best teams. Can the Terror Twins Amen Thompson and Tari Eason slow down Steph and company? Or will Draymond get the last laugh against Baby Joker Alperen Sengun?

THE CUP! Hawks at Knicks, Wednesday 7:00 p.m. ET, TNT: Trae Young returns to Madison Square Garden where Ice Trae first made his name in the playoffs back in 2021. This Knicks team is much better, but the Great Barrier Thief vs. Jalen Brunson should be worth the watch. Keep an eye out for Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Clint Capela who will give the shooting big man his looks. Could be a big night for KAT.

Lakers at Wolves, Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET, League Pass: A big game for tiebreaker scenarios between the Lakers and Wolves after they split the first two meetings. Will Anthony Davis bow up like he did in the opener and assert himself as the rightful DPOY by... scoring... I guess? Or will Anthony Edwards show out vs. the awful Lakers defense. ?

Pistons at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET, League Pass: No kidding, the last game between these two teams was surprisingly fun. The Pistons simply will not go away easy and the Celtics' defense right now leaves the door open. Check out Boston trying to put away the scrappy, hungry young squad like they used to be.