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Steven Adams' historic offensive rebounding saves Grizzlies
It's hard to stop Ja Morant from scoring late. It's even harder to box out Steven Adams.
Adams put back Morant's miss with 16 seconds left to give the Memphis Grizzlies a 115-114 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, which ended up the final score.
Aquamane with the GAME-WINNING BUCKET pic.twitter.com/LiRQsLoZqd
— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) January 19, 2023
The Grizzlies have now won 11 games in a row, and remain a half-game back of the Denver Nuggets, who have won seven in a row themselves.
Morant rightly gets a ton of credit for the Grizzlies' success. The 23-year-old is 10th in the league in scoring with 27.4 points per game, and unofficially leading the league in spectacular highlights.
But it's the Grizzlies center who is quietly having a historic season on the offensive glass. Adams leads the league with five offensive rebounds per game, and he's grabbed 20 percent more than his closest competitor, the New York Knicks' Mitchell Robinson.
Adams is grabbing 19.54 percent of available offensive boards. That's the seventh-best rate in NBA history, trailing only two seasons each from Moses Malone, Dennis Rodman, and Jayson Williams. (Data only goes back to the 1973-74 season, so apologies to Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.) He also led the league in offensive rebounds last year by a huge margin, grabbing 349 to Robinson's 295.
The effect can be devastating. Teams have to deal with Adams' devastating screening, then Morant's driving. Morant drives to the basket more than 20 times per game - only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic do it more. If teams can force a miss, then they have to deal with the league's best offensive rebounder coming to clean up the mess.
Even the Cavaliers, who have All-Star center Jarrett Allen and 6-foot-11 Evan Mobley, were powerless to stop Adams at the biggest moment of the game. The 174-pound Morant and the 265-pound Adams couldn't look more different, but together, they're hard to beat in crunch time.
More must-reads:
- NBA roundup: Grizzlies edge Cavs for 11th straight win
- Grizzlies' Ja Morant laments being called for seventh drug test of season
- The 'NBA Most Improved Player Award' quiz
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Warriors Rumors: Jonathan Kuminga, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Seth Curry
The Golden State Warriors’ offseason continues to revolve around one question. Namely, what happens with Jonathan Kuminga? Golden State currently has just nine players signed to standard contracts, and the Kuminga standoff is slowing the rest of its roster moves. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that the Warriors are keeping Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II in a holding pattern until Kuminga’s situation is resolved. Malcolm Brogdon and Seth Curry remain on the team’s radar, with Javonte Green also a possible addition. The Kings and Suns have both explored sign-and-trade deals for Kuminga, but the Warriors haven’t been impressed with what’s been offered. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints noted that those talks haven’t reached a serious stage, and there are no other known suitors at the moment. Warriors Stuck For Now? Cap expert Yossi Gozlan explained in his Third Apron column that Golden State is “probably stuck” until the Kuminga situation plays out. The Warriors are believed to have deals in place with Horford and Melton, but those signings can’t be finalized while Kuminga is still unsigned. If Golden State uses its taxpayer mid-level exception, it would be hard-capped at $207.8 million — opening the door for a rival with cap space to swoop in and make Kuminga a near $30 million per year offer the Warriors couldn’t match. Gozlan views a sign-and-trade as the most practical solution for both sides. If Kuminga re-signs, Golden State would likely aim for a deal in the $22–23 million per year range, which would allow the team to use the taxpayer MLE and add three more players on minimum contracts while staying below the hard cap. For now, all signs point to Kuminga remaining with the Warriors to start next season, but the impasse continues to hold up the rest of Golden State’s plans. More NBA News Rumors
Jaydon Blue injury update: Major news emerges on Cowboys RB after Thursday practice exit
According to Nick Harris of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Cowboys running back Jaydon Blue suffered a bone bruise in his heel on Thursday. Blue was stepped on during practice, initially looking at an ankle sprain. Thankfully, the MRI came back with some positive news. “Cowboys RB Jaydon Blue’s MRI revealed a bone bruise in his heel after it was stepped on in today’s practice, according to a @startelegram source,” Harris said via X. “No ankle sprain. Good news for the young back who has emerged as an offensive playmaker in camp.” Blue previously told Harris that an ankle injury was what he suffered. Questions about the running back’s availability for Saturday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams are now present. Something to watch as kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from SoFi Stadium. Dallas took Blue in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, hoping to address its running back situation. Blue played his college ball inside the Lone Star State, suiting up for the Texas Longhorns. Plenty of guys at the position have come out of Austin and found quick success. Blue is hoping to be the next one. For now, there is an injury for him to deal with. No exact timeline has been provided per a report or by a team official. Hopefully, Blue is able to get things cleared up quickly and get his first taste of the NFL before Sept. 4’s season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. More on Jaydon Blue, Cowboys running back situation Running back was a position the Cowboys needed to desperately figure out this offseason. Rico Dowdle, the team’s leading rusher, was no longer on the roster. Behind Dowdle, Dallas did not have much else. A nice mix of veteran presence and youngsters was needed. Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders provide the former, while Blue was a part of the draft class alongside Phil Mafah. A combination of those four figures to be on the opening night roster. Exactly how head coach Brian Schottenheimer splits up the carries is not yet known. Blue’s injury certainly does not help the situation. Cowboys players, in general, have been going down throughout training camp thus far. Making sure everyone is healthy will be critical heading into the season. Especially an explosive back like Blue, someone who can change the outcome of any game in just the snap of your fingers.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league-average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on Aug. 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days' rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
Green Bay Packers’ Xavier McKinney Gets Honest After Big Injury News
The Green Bay Packers are gearing up for their preseason opener against the New York Jets. Unfortunately, they are not going to have one of their best defensive players available to play in the game even if they wanted him to. Xavier McKinney has been ruled out for the rest of training camp and all three preseason games due to a calf injury. After signing a big four-year, $67 million contract with the Packers last offseason in NFL free agency, McKinney put together a big first year in the green and gold. He took on a major leadership role and was a dynamic playmaker in the secondary. In order to compete for a Super Bowl, Green Bay will need him healthy. Following the news of his injury, McKinney spoke out about the situation. Green Bay Packers’ Xavier McKinney Gets Honest After Big Injury News As shared by ESPN, McKinney shared his gratefulness for the injury being caught before it got worse. He also offered some comforting words for Packers fans. “Obviously glad that we caught it when we caught it, so just kind of trying to take it slow and then the build-up, obviously,” McKinney said. “But I’ll be ready when it’s time to go, for sure.” During the 2024 season with Green Bay, McKinney played in all 17 regular season games. He racked up 88 total tackles to go along with a sack, a fumble recovery, eight interceptions, and 11 defended passes. Those numbers show just how big of an impact McKinney makes for the defense. Jeff Hafley was spoiled in his debut season as the team’s defensive coordinator by having him patrolling the final layer of his unit. Hopefully, McKinney will be able to recovery quickly and get back to 100 percent by Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. He sounds confident that he’ll be able to do just that.
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