Grizzlies – Cavaliers: the last minute of madness!

And 11! Memphis, the only team chasing the Nuggets’ infernal pace, beat the Cavaliers 115-114 for their 11th straight victory. After leading by as many as 19 points, Ja Morant’s teammates will almost certainly bite the dust against the Cavaliers, even without Donovan Mitchell. Thanks to Super Darius Garland, Cleveland took control at the end of the 3rd quarter (91-89).

The Grizzlies take a 7-0 lead, but the Cavaliers immediately respond with a 9-0 run! Result: Evan Mobley puts the Cavaliers ahead (114-111) with 74 seconds left. Ja Morant goes for two shots and the Grizzlies come back within one (114-113). This is when the game gets crazy.

Jaren Jackson Jr. Darius covers Garland and then the Cavaliers can’t put the ball behind. Grizzlies defense is amazing!

Even better, Steven Adams hit the deciding shot with both hands after Ja Morant’s missed shot (115-114). 16 seconds left, no timeouts, and Darius Garland takes over at the 3-pointer. He looks for the first shot, but Dillon Brooks intercepts him and tries to regain ground after a relay with his teammate. Same position and Dillon Brooks in turn covers him! Memphis wins by narrowest margin for 11th straight win!

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– The franchise record was tied. This 11th straight win equals the franchise record set exactly one year ago by the same group! The common point of all their successes: the team always scored 115 points or more.

– Defense makes the difference. The Grizzlies have big defenders in Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dillon Brooks, who were the difference-makers in the closing seconds against Darius Garland. Like this Cavaliers play sanctioned by the referees, Memphis choked Cleveland in the final seconds.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Stephen Adams. Double-double and game-winning basket while battling the Mobley-Allen duo all evening!

✅ Santi Cheat. Ideal joker with 3-point ability and even defense. He counter-attacked by offering himself a ‘Driver’, which he unfortunately declined.

✅ Jaren Jackson Jr. Mistakes have limited his playing time, but his defensive performance is insane (4 blocks, 2 interceptions!). He is everywhere!

✅⛔ Darius Garland. It’s almost a perfect match and we can even say that he’s managing Ja Morant. But we also remember that he was repaid in his last two attempts.

⛔ Cavaliers bench. The substitutes didn’t bring much tonight, as did Kevin Love, who suffered from a sore thumb. Where did Cedi Osman go from the beginning of the season?

NEXT

Memphis (31-13) : Friday’s trip to the Lakers.

Cleveland (28-18) : Friday’s Warriors reception.