Bittersweet taste in Santi Aldama’s best game in the NBA

There seems to be no end to the bad fortune the Grizzlies have been experiencing since the start of the new season. Morant’s sanction is weighing heavy on the team, Steven Adams is injured and Brandon Clarke is yet to return, the rotation doesn’t have the same strength of previous years and even the irrepressible Marcus Smart missed the game he most wanted to play (against his former team) due to a problem with his left that keep him sidelined for another month.

Things are not going as planned, so to speak. To make matters worse, they are losing some games that, despite so much hardship, they should be winning for the valiant way they have been approaching them. Sunday’s against Boston in Memphis was one of them.

Pipped in Memphis

The Celtics emerged victorious from the FedEx Forum by a basket difference, 100-102, which turned out to be a two-handed dunk from the player who did the most damage to the locals. Kristaps Porzingis dominated when he had to, ending with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks, including the decisive one that closed the game (denying Ziaire Williams).

That ending did not work out for the Tennessee team and it is another letdown in a story that keeps repeating itself. This time a totally crazy play was added in which Jrue Holiday missed the dunk that sealed the visitor’s victory and reached the other side with a three pointer by Aldama on the counterattack, a rebound and a block that, in just seconds, tipped the balance before the buzzer sounded. The controversy is that Taylor Jenkins, the Grizzlies coach who a week ago had said that the refereeing against them was atrocious, called for the timeout (as he admitted) that he had left and the referees, by omission, did not give an opportunity to stop the game.

Aldama steps up

Spanish power forward Santi Aldama put in a tremendous performance - by far the best of his NBA career so far, but it was of little use. Faced with the team’s losses, he has stepped up when the team needs him most. He came from a 17+10 against Victor Wembanyama and even raised the level. Against the Celtics, although he will still have the disappointment of that missed shot to win, he overcame his pre-established barriers - 28 points in 39 minutes, both are records for him, with this statistic: 5/12 on two-point shots and 6/15 on three-point shots.

He also contributed 12 rebounds, completing a double-double, and 6 assists and 2 steals. He had prepared the match well, admitting to the local press that Marcus Smart had been talking to him for “10 minutes non-stop” about the Celtics’ way of playing, but the great individual performance was not rewarded with a collective victory this time.