“Grizzlies without Ja Morant have a better win percentage than ‘96 Bulls and ‘16 Warriors”: How Dillon Brooks and company are torching teams without their best player

The Memphis Grizzlies have won games at a better clip without Ja Morant this season than the ‘16 Warriors and ‘96 Bulls. 

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies have become quite the story this season. Everything from Ja making his first All-Star team and inserting himself in the ‘top 3 point guards in the league’ conversation to Jaren Jackson Jr morphing into a DPOY level player, the Grizz are a top tier team out West. 

The Grizzlies put the league on notice several months ago as it was clear that they were becoming quite the threat. They recently confirmed their number 2 seedings right behind the Phoenix Suns and happened to play the Suns tonight in a battle between the 1 and 2 seeds.

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The bout led to the Grizzlies having their definitive win of the season. If someone were to ask in the future, ‘What moment defined the 2022 season for the Grizzlies?’, it would tonight’s win over the Suns. 

In summary, the Phoenix Suns were at full strength top to bottom. Their entire rotation, including guys like JaVale McGee and Cameron Johnson, were available. Yet, they lost to Memphis at FedEx Forum without them having 4 of their 5 starters. 

Grizzles without Ja Morant are on a better win pace than two of the greatest regular season teams of all time. 

Dillon Brooks, who had missed several months this season due to injury, led the way for his extremely shorthanded Grizzlies, dropping 30 points on questionable efficiency. What is incredible is that the Grizzlies managed to put up a whopping 28 second chance points, without the one of the best rebounders in the game, Steven Adams.

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Devin Booker’s 41 points on 28 shots would go in vain as 6 other players other than Brooks were in double digits in scoring. 

This win against the best team in the league marks the 20th time this season that the Grizzlies have won without Ja Morant. They have suffered merely 2 losses in the total 22 games that they have played with their All-Star.

A 20-2 pace comes out to a 90.9% win percentage. This is higher than what the 1996 Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls boasted (87.8%) and the Golden State Warriors (89.02%). 

“Tonight is a night where you can put a stamp on t and say, ‘This is who we are, and we are going to be here for a really long time,’” said HC Taylor Jenkins.