By Adam J. Douglas
Amidst the drama, player movement rumors and the ebbs and flows that come with an NBA season, there has been a bright spot in the Memphis Grizzlies rotation since the new year began: combo guard Jerryd Bayless.
The fifth-year guard out of Arizona has been on a tear the last eight games coming into Friday’s (Feb. 8) contest against the Golden State Warriors. Bayless is averaging 16.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Not to mention his scorching .552 percent from the field, increasing his minutes to 31.5 minutes per game on the court, and having recorded three of his 20-point performances as a Grizzly in this current streak.
Bayless got the Grizzlies going in the 99-93 much needed win over sixth-seeded Golden State – with three three-pointers in the first half – to help put cushion between the two squads and keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race.
“I’m just comfortable and it helps that everyone is playing well,” said Bayless. “I’m just getting open because everyone is focusing on Marc (Gasol) and Z-Bo (Zach Randolph), so I just hope that it continues and I keep playing like this.”
Another move that has helped Bayless, although he doesn’t give it much credit, is the fact that during this current hot streak he has either played alongside point guard Mike Conley, or off the ball opposite Tony Wroten or whomever Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins has running the show. So it is speculated that Bayless prefers to play the two-guard spot rather than be orchestrator.
“Well right now with this team I play both and right now it’s going well,” said Bayless. “I’ve just got to continue it.”
Bayless did in fact continue his hot play. In the contest against the Warriors he extended his double-digit scoring streak to nine with scoring 14 points, dishing out three assists – all of which went to guard Tony Allen for alley-oops and layups – in the 27 minutes of his play.
“I just think everybody was helping each other, helping the helper and tonight we did great,” said Bayless. “We played together, offensively and defensively. We were just good against a tough team and played well and came out and did what we needed to do.”
Bayless’ breaking out couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. The Grizzlies have been struggling on offense since the trade of their former leading scorer and franchise all-time steals leader Rudy Gay. The defense hasn’t been there either, giving up 100 or more points in three of their last five contests. And newly anointed two-time NBA All-Star forward Randolph has struggled mightily since the roster shakeup. Dealing with his own trade rumors, the big man only went out to do what he does best – get another double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds to go along with 16 points, most of which came down the stretch when Golden State fought back to take a late fourth quarter lead.
Gasol paced the Grizzlies with an all-around performance. Gasol led with 20 points, 11 rebounds and handed out five dimes. But that didn’t stop the seven-foot center from dishing out constructive criticism towards him and his teammates.
“We try to win every game of course,” said Gasol. “Tonight was big for us, we needed this one just as bad as they did because we’ve been struggling too. Now we just have to move forward, get some rest and get ready to be consistent.”
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