Memphis guard Ja Morant proved the anticipation over his return to the Grizzlies was justified in the season opener on Wednesday. Morant lost 73 games last season to suspension and injury last season but it was hard to tell he'd been away with 22 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in a 126-124 road win over the Utah Jazz. Yet the production from forward Santi Aldama was equally noteworthy.
Starting in the stead of Jaren Jackson Jr. (hamstring), Aldama poured in 27 points - one shy of his career high - and five rebounds to help Morant steer a balanced offensive attack for the Grizzlies, who will remain on the road when facing the Houston Rockets on Friday. Aldama emerged last season as a starter in 35 games for the injury-plagued Grizzlies and averaged 10.
7 points with 5.8 rebounds. His perimeter shooting is valuable for Memphis, given Morant and his penchant to get downhill with the ball in pursuit of spectacular rim attacks.
Aldama hit five 3-pointers against the Jazz in a preview of how potent the pairing could be. "He's got a lot of potential going into his fourth year," Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said of Aldama. "He's grown a lot.
He's played a lot of different roles for us: he's come off the bench, he's been a starter, he's played in super big lineups, sometimes he had to play at the five. Hopefully, when we're fully healthy I still think he can make an extreme impact at a lot of different positions. "Going into his fourth year I think he's learned a lot and he und.
