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The Memphis Grizzlies have been playing better basketball than anyone could have predicted them to play. The only people who truly believed that this Grizzlies squad can compete at this level this year are the players on the team and their fans. They didn't appear out of nowhere since everyone knew what kind of talent they have, but no one anticipated them to play this sort of basketball so early in their careers.
The fact of the matter is that the Grizzlies have played far better basketball than most NBA fans and media expected. This year's performances by Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson, and others just demonstrate how hard these players work and how successful they will be in the coming years.
Memphis will face a difficult battle in the playoffs if they want to do make some noise. They'll have to overcome the star-studded Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and they always have to worry about LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers if they want to win the Western Conference. Given how good this Grizzlies team has looked all year, there's virtually no reason to believe they can't defeat any of those teams right now.
Here are three reasons why the Memphis Grizzlies have the best chance of winning the Western Conference.
Winning an NBA title is never easy. As we have seen with the past 20 champions, every team is going to need something significant to go their way. Whether that is an unfortunate injury to someone, or having guys on the roster step up more than they ever have. There is a reason why winning a championship is so hard, and a reason why we have seen crazy upsets in the past. If a team is going to win a title, they’re going to need everyone on their roster to be playing the best basketball they possibly can, and even sometimes that isn’t enough to get the job done.
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Grizzlies Western Conference
3. Ja Morant must be the best player on the court
The fact that this Memphis Grizzlies team lacks a second star after Ja Morant is maybe their most serious flaw. Sure, players like Desmond Bane have contributed much to this team this season, but he isn't the kind of the second star that a championship team needs. The fact is that Bane will have to keep playing like this, and Ja Morant will have to be the best player on the court in every postseason series they play.
This is not going to be a simple assignment for Ja Morant. Going up against players like Chris Paul, Devin Booker, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, and others, regardless of how well he has played this year, is never easy, and it is even more difficult to be the best player on the court when all of those guys are playing.
Despite the fact that Memphis doesn't have a second star, there is no doubting that this team has a lot of depth, which is why they have been so successful. We haven't seen many teams with the depth of this Grizzlies squad in the past, so there's no reason to assume they need that second star when they have a slew of high-quality role players and others who may develop into All-Stars in the coming years.
2. Team defense
The Grizzlies are an excellent team not just because they are youthful and dynamic and play the game the right way, but they also do a lot of things right on defense. Desmond Bane and Kyle Anderson, among others on the Grizzlies squad have stood up, while Jaren Jackson Jr is playing arguably the best defense in the NBA this season.
Whether it's Desmond Bane's duty of guarding the opposing team's best player, Kyle Anderson's position off the bench, or Jaren Jackson's five blocks in a game, Memphis plays excellent team defense, and if they want to continue to be successful in the playoffs, they must continue to play at a high level on that side of the ball.
1. They're having a good time, which is terrifying for opposing teams
When you're watching the Grizzlies, It is obvious that they play the game in a different style than any other team in the league. They not only go out and play at a high level, but they also have fun doing it. They also don't back down in the face of adversity. When the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James came to town, the Grizzlies beat them up as if they didn't care what LeBron had achieved in his career. They chuckled as they understood they were better than the Lakers at the moment, and they had no fear in them.
No rival team will want to play against them since they have no fear of anyone and feel that they are the best team in the NBA, and they are having a great time doing it.
