Home is where the heart is and that is where the Memphis Grizzlies are finding their comfortability at again after an atrocious 9-32 record in the FedExForum last season. The team just completed a four-game homestand with a 4-0 record after yesterday’s come-from-behind win over the Indiana Pacers.
The Grizzlies are now 10-3 at home on the season and are still in the midst of an eight out of 10-game stretch of home games that began on November 17th, which resulted in a victory over the Denver Nuggets. In their last seven home games, the team is 6-1 with one more home game remaining in this stretch on Thursday against the Sacramento Kings after their trip to Dallas to face the Mavericks on Tuesday.
Their nine home wins before November ended already tied the amount of home wins the team achieved last season and after their victory over the Pacers yesterday, they surpassed last season’s total. It’s becoming more obvious by the day how much of an outlier last season was considering the Grizzlies had the best home record during the 2022-23 NBA season at 35-6.
Even dating back to the 2021-22 season, the Grizzlies finished third in the NBA with a 30-11 home record, meaning this team has taken advantage of their homecourt advantage more often than not in two of the last three seasons. This year’s team is averaging 120 points on 48.5% shooting in home games after only averaging 104 points in their 41 home games last season.
The NBA’s leading team in assists per game is averaging 31 assists in their home games, helping to keep their offensive pace amid the deep rotation of players the team has to offer on any given night. It also helps when the team can remain at home for the majority of the last two weeks as the Grizzlies’ home record before their current eight out of 10-game stretch at home was 5-3.
Depending on the NBA Cup standings outcome after their final Cup game against the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow night, the Grizzlies would likely gain another home game next week to make their home stretch nine out of 13 or 14 games remaining within the confines of the city of Memphis.
Player availability has also helped the Grizzlies in their recent stretch including their current six-game winning streak after yesterday’s victory over the Pacers. This is the longest winning streak the team has had since winning seven straight from March 17-28, 2023.
Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Marcus Smart have all returned from different injuries that kept them all out for a couple of weeks on different schedules. While the team has since gained then lost Vince Williams Jr. again and lost Zach Edey to injury during that timeframe, the home stretch provided an opportunity for the team to settle in.
Returning to dominance at home was important for this Grizzlies team to return to their competitive status in the Western Conference. Judging by the early promising results, this team is destined to continue climbing the standings and allowing the fanbase to forget last season’s outlier of a regular season.
