Advertisement

Grizzlies turning to Marc Gasol in time of need, and he's delivering, as always

Ben Rohrbach
·Senior NBA writer

It wasn’t quite Klay Thompson scoring 60 points in 29 minutes or Russell Westbrook notching a triple-double (his sixth straight) in the third quarter for the 19th time in his career, since it took Marc Gasol two overtimes to get his stats, but the Memphis Grizzlies center’s effort Monday was a thing of beauty.

[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

Gasol finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks and a pair of steals, the most vital statistic of which was probably this step-back 3-pointer to send Monday night’s game into overtime:

Need we remind you Gasol is a 7-foot-1, 255-pound silo who made all of a dozen 3-pointers through the first eight years of his NBA career. That he is now casually sinking game-tying teardrops from 23 feet and shooting 43.4 percent on 3.6 attempts from distance per game for the season is remarkable.

He finished 3-for-6 from beyond the arc on Monday, adding a game-winning fadeaway jumper from 17 feet with 1:16 in the second overtime to finally sink the New Orleans Pelicans, 110-108. But it wasn’t merely his scoring that made his performance so impressive; it was that he did absolutely everything.

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Basketball | Mock Draft | The Vertical | Latest news]

Gasol served as the primary post defender against Anthony Davis, holding the MVP candidate to 10-of-27 shooting, one of his three worst performances of the season, which just so happens to include a 3-for-13 night opposite Gasol last month (the third was a 7-for-22 evening against the Boston Celtics).

The Spaniard snatched his first rejection from Davis’ hands in the second quarter, and his second block, on Terrence Jones, came with 2.7 seconds left in overtime, sending the game into a second OT:

Gasol’s defensive assignments shot 4-of-14 from the floor (28.6 percent) — 18.1 percent below their season averages — anchoring a defense that held New Orleans to 39.4 percent over 58 minutes.

Oh, and he ran the Memphis offense in the absence of Mike Conley. The Grizzlies point guard and $153 million man is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a fractured vertebrae (ouch), which seemed likely to doom a Memphis team that’s grown thin in recent years (double ouch). Yet, the Grizz have won three straight sans Conley and climbed up the Western Conference standings to a fifth-place tie with the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to Gasol’s ability to morph himself into whatever the team needs.

In their time of need, Mike Conley and the Grizzlies look to Marc Gasol. (AP)
In their time of need, Mike Conley and the Grizzlies look to Marc Gasol. (AP)

Gasol is naturally a gifted and frequent passer in lineups with Conley, but in the past four games without him, he’s upped his average to 6.25 assists — higher than Conley’s season average of 5.7 — including 19 dimes over the previous two games. And these aren’t all out of a double team, either:

There are few players capable of masking deficiencies so universally, and the Grizzlies are fortunate to have one of the elite bigs who can dominate a game scoring, rebounding, passing and defending. And that 3-point shot has made Gasol a five-tool weapon like maybe no other in recent memory.

“He’s the best post player in the NBA. He can do everything,” Grizzlies rookie point guard Andrew Harrison — Conley’s replacement in the starting lineup — told The Score’s Joseph Casciaro of Gasol last week. “When he starts making 3’s, he’s literally unstoppable.”

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]

It is no coincidence, then, that Memphis’ rise to perennial pesky playoff team has coincided with his tenure. Since Gasol’s rookie year, the Grizzlies own a .623 win percentage with both Gasol and Conley in the lineup (291-176) and a .208 win percentage without either of them (5-19). Makes sense. Now, consider this: Memphis is a sub-.500 team (24-26) without Gasol and with Conley during that same time span, but a well-above .500 team (24-14. 632 win percentage) with Gasol and without Conley.

That has to give the Grizzlies plenty of confidence Gasol can keep them afloat until Conley is scheduled to return in a couple months. Granted, this current three-game win streak is against the Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic — a trio of likely lottery-bound teams — but history has proven, so long as Gasol’s Swiss Army knife of skills are in the lineup, Memphis can compete.

– – – – – – –

Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!