NBA: Road-hot Grizzlies take on injury-depleted Spurs

Grizzlies Aim to Extend Hot Streak Against Short-Handed Spurs in San Antonio

The Memphis Grizzlies will look to build on their best stretch of games this season when they travel to San Antonio to face a short-handed Spurs team on Tuesday.

Memphis has won three consecutive games and five of its last six, including a 115-107 victory over Sacramento on Sunday. Zach Edey led the Grizzlies with a career-high 32 points, seven more than he had ever scored in an NBA game.

Edey added all six points in a lead-changing run late in the game, went 16 of 20 from the floor, and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.

“No second-chance points, no easy shots,” Edey said of his mindset. “We're just rebounding and finishing possessions. Just seeing the ball off the rim really well. We just keep stacking wins. That's exactly where we want to be.”

Cam Spencer contributed 16 points for Memphis, while Jaylen Wells added 15. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each scored 13, and Cedric Coward finished with 10 points.

Four of Memphis' five recent wins have come on the road, all without star guard Ja Morant, who remains sidelined with a right calf injury. The Grizzlies continue to navigate a shortage of point guard depth, as Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe), Ty Jerome (calf), and Javon Small (toe) are also out with injuries.

“Guys have just put their heads down, kept working from day to day,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “This type of win and this road trip overall just brings a lot of belief in the work that we're doing and that there's a purpose to it.”

The Spurs return to San Antonio after a four-game road trip that ended with a 125-112 loss to Minnesota on Sunday. San Antonio won two of those four games — beating Portland and Denver to secure a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals — despite missing star center Victor Wembanyama (calf) and guard Stephon Castle (hip flexor). Neither player is expected to play Tuesday.

De’Aaron Fox led the Spurs with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting in Sunday’s loss, while Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each added 22 points. Rookie Dylan Harper scored 17. San Antonio held a four-point lead entering the final period but was outscored 36-19 in the fourth quarter.

San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said the game slipped away after halftime.

“It started in the third quarter,” Johnson explained. “Our activity, resistance, and togetherness defensively was really poor. We turned them over, I believe, zero times in the third quarter, so we just didn't have that level of presence on and off the basketball.”

Following Tuesday’s matchup, the Spurs will play six of their next seven games on the road.

“They made shots, we didn't,” Harper said after Sunday’s loss. “On the defensive end, obviously we could have cleaned a little stuff up, but at the end of the day, they made shots, we didn't. So we look forward to playing at home now.”

The two teams previously met in Memphis on Nov. 18, when the Spurs edged out a 111-101 victory. -Field Level Media/Reuters