If Conley and Gasol are a constant the team hasn’t had to survive without, their supporting cast tends to play Marco Polo night to night. That’s partly by design and partly by necessity. Since summer, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has touted depth as something that has to be a team strength.
“Whatever we need on a given night, we can pull that from our bench. We feel like we have guys that can come in and contribute up and down our lineup,” Bickerstaff said after Tuesday’s game.
It puts the onus on him to navigate his way to the right choices or combinations each night, but it’s so-far worked out more often than not.
Among the quiet heroes of this one were a more unlikely duo: Omri Casspi and Ivan Rabb...
Garrett Temple led the Grizzlies with 20 points, knocking down 4-7 from three-point range and chasing down seven boards for a team that needs guards to rebound.
Temple probably won’t shoot 50 percent from three on the season and his scoring rate right now is significantly higher than at any previous point in his career. He’s 32 years old. A full transformation is unlikely. But sometimes you don’t fully notice what a player can do until you watch them repeatedly up-close, and Temple might be one of the league’s more underrated players.
As important as Temple’s points was probably his defense, taking the primary assignment on the Wizards’ best scorer, Bradley Beal, and helping hound Beal into 5-16 shooting.
Temple may well be the best pure three-and-D wing the Grizzlies have had since in the Conley/Gasol years. It may be a little late, but they’re happy to have it.
