With a little more than a month left in the season, the Memphis Grizzlies are doing their best to persevere as their best players remain on the mend and the losses mount.
Star guard Ja Morant will miss his 16th consecutive game when the Grizzlies visit the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Morant has been sidelined with a left elbow injury and hasn’t been on the floor since Jan. 21.
Big man Zach Edey remains out with an ankle issue, and rookie Cedric Coward hasn’t played since the All-Star break because of a knee injury.
The situation has left the Grizzlies scrambling to assemble a cohesive unit. And the loss of Edey — in addition to recent trades of 6-foot-10 Jaren Jackson Jr. and 6-11 Jock Landale — has rendered the Grizzlies ineffective on the boards as well.
After being outrebounded 48-34 in a 133-112 home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, the Grizzlies have been outrebounded 150-106 in their past three games, all losses.
Memphis has lost seven of its past eight games, and the disparity on the glass has been a factor.
“Absolutely,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “With the size disadvantage that we have, we have to be able to have some friction on the ball, some ball pressure and not allow the offense to get to the spots where they want to get the ball.
“We’ve given up way too easily (in the past three games). There’s no primary rim protector, and we have very little secondary rim protection right now that will erase those mistakes.”
The Grizzlies made a move on Thursday to address the situation by signing 40-year-old free agent forward/center Taj Gibson to a two-year deal. Gibson, a 16-year NBA veteran who has appeared in 1,002 games, is 6-foot-9.
His most recent NBA action was 37 games last season for the Charlotte Hornets, when he averaged 2.9 points and 3.2 rebounds.
Taylor Hendricks, a recent trade acquisition from the Utah Jazz, saw significant time at center — not his natural position — on Wednesday and finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
“He was in a tough situation (against Golden State),” Iisalo said. “(Kyle) Anderson was a late scratch for the game. Taylor went into a new position after being with the team very little time. I thought he did a good job for not having practiced there once.”
Dallas has encountered its share of injury issues, too. Rookie of the Year candidate Cooper Flagg missed the past five games because of a foot sprain and likely won’t play against Memphis. The Mavericks, who will be playing the second game of a back-to-back set, have dropped 11 of their past 13 contests.
Dallas fell 130-121 to the visiting Sacramento Kings on Thursday despite Naji Marshall logging a season-high 36 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists. Khris Middleton chipping in with 17 points.
Brandon Williams added 16 points and four assists off the bench. On Tuesday, Williams scored 19 points and added 10 assists in a road win over the Brooklyn Nets.
“I think you can see that (Brandon has) turned the corner of being able to play-make for others,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “(He’s) using his speed to get into the paint and not always looking to score but making plays for others.
“He’s made some big shots for us, and I thought he played some pretty good defense, too. I think you can see he’s getting comfortable running the team.”
