Memphis Grizzlies – New Orleans Pelicans · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 19 December 2023

MEM115–113NOP

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 53% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ NOP winsMEM wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when NOP leads and falls when MEM does.

This is how the game was decided.

Ja Morant decided it, the Memphis Grizzlies player with the most points (34, with 6 rebounds and 8 assists; +12 with him on the floor). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in New Orleans Pelicans 113-115 Memphis Grizzlies (December 19, 2023) was hit by Ja Morant: a layup with 0.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Memphis Grizzlies up 115-113. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of New Orleans Pelicans 113-115 Memphis Grizzlies (December 19, 2023) was a 23-0 run by the New Orleans Pelicans in the second quarter (from 7:06 to 2:30), from 30-31 to 53-31. The Memphis Grizzlies' best was a 11-0 run between the second quarter and the third quarter, from 36-60 to 47-60.

With 34 points, this is Ja Morant's highest-scoring game of the 2023‑24 regular season.

What were the keys of the last New Orleans Pelicans vs Memphis Grizzlies game?

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Ja Morant makes driving layup.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

It is compared by points with all his official NBA box scores in that scope; it is the same criterion the Analyst uses.

Ja Morant decided this game: his points put his team ahead at the buzzer of the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 7 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Morant decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

19 December 2023 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401584988:668; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · MEM

Williams · Bane · Morant · Jackson · Aldama

Closing lineup · NOP

Ingram · Jones · Murphy · Marshall · Daniels

Q1Q2Q3Q4

MEM

Vince Williams Jr.

35′ · -8

Desmond Bane

35′ · +5

Ja Morant

35′ · +12

Jaren Jackson Jr.

30′ · -2

Bismack Biyombo

22′ · +3

John Konchar

22′ · -6

Santi Aldama

16′ · -5

Ziaire Williams

18′ · +1

Xavier Tillman

20′ · +3

David Roddy

9′ · +7

NOP

CJ McCollum

41′ · +9

Brandon Ingram

37′ · 0

Jonas Valanciunas

33′ · +5

Herbert Jones

30′ · 0

Zion Williamson

25′ · -13

Trey Murphy III

21′ · -6

Naji Marshall

17′ · -11

Jose Alvarado

8′ · -9

Cody Zeller

13′ · -2

Dyson Daniels

13′ · +17

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. MEM and NOP.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Memphis Grizzlies

Jackson, Morant, Bane, Williams, and Biyombo played 8.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Jackson, Morant, Tillman, Bane, and Williams played 5.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Morant, Bane, Roddy, Williams, and Biyombo played 5.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.

New Orleans Pelicans

Ingram, Williamson, Jones, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 12.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 13 points.
Ingram, Jones, Murphy, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 4.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Ingram, Marshall, Murphy, Alvarado, and Zeller played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Memphis Grizzlies

Konchar, Bane, Aldama, Williams, and Biyombo played 3.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 11 points.
Jackson, Morant, Konchar, Tillman, and Williams played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Jackson, Morant, Tillman, Williams, and Williams played 3.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Jackson, Konchar, Bane, Williams, and Aldama played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Konchar, Bane, Williams, Aldama, and Biyombo played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Konchar, Bane, Roddy, Williams, and Biyombo played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Jackson, Morant, Konchar, Williams, and Aldama played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Morant, Konchar, Tillman, Williams, and Aldama played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Morant, Konchar, Tillman, Aldama, and Williams played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Morant, Tillman, Bane, Roddy, and Williams played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Jackson, Morant, Bane, Aldama, and Williams played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Jackson, Konchar, Tillman, Bane, and Williams played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

New Orleans Pelicans

Ingram, Jones, Daniels, McCollum, and Zeller played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Ingram, Jones, Daniels, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 3.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 14 points.
Ingram, Williamson, Jones, McCollum, and Zeller played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Marshall, Murphy, Daniels, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Ingram, Williamson, Marshall, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Williamson, Marshall, Murphy, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Williamson, Murphy, Daniels, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Marshall, Murphy, Alvarado, McCollum, and Zeller played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

CJ McCollum covered 4.96 km, more than anyone in the game.

Ja Morant touched the ball 83 times, a game high.
Jonas Valanciunas made 56 passes, a game high.
Jonas Valanciunas defended 11 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 8.
Jonas Valanciunas had 22 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Memphis Grizzlies

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Vince Williams Jr.	4.46	7.2	36	29
Desmond Bane	4.28	6.9	75	50
Ja Morant	4.23	6.8	83	46
Jaren Jackson Jr.	3.46	6.6	40	24
John Konchar	2.83	7.3	32	28
Xavier Tillman	2.57	7.2	30	24
Bismack Biyombo	2.57	6.7	29	23
Ziaire Williams	2.01	6.3	16	10
Santi Aldama	1.91	6.8	24	20
David Roddy	1.09	7.0	12	9

New Orleans Pelicans

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
CJ McCollum	4.96	6.8	62	46
Brandon Ingram	4.31	6.5	77	50
Jonas Valanciunas	3.75	6.5	72	56
Herbert Jones	3.67	6.8	29	17
Zion Williamson	3.02	6.9	43

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2023-24 regular season, not this game.

Memphis Grizzlies

Desmond Bane recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 42 games.
He ranks 15 of 373 in the league.
Jaren Jackson Jr. deflected 2.7 passes per game over his 66 games.
He ranks 16 of 373 in the league.
Vince Williams Jr. deflected 2.4 passes per game over his 51 games.
He ranks 30 of 373 in the league.

New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 12 of 373 in the league.
Dyson Daniels deflected 2.8 passes per game over his 61 games.
He ranks 14 of 373 in the league.
Herbert Jones drew 0.16 charges per game over his 76 games.
He ranks 19 of 373 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 23 of their 50 games against the Memphis Grizzlies.

23-27record of the New Orleans Pelicans · NBA 2013-14 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2013-14 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

18.355

108.8% of capacity

Smoothie King Center · New Orleans

Scoring

228

combined points

0.4 below the season average (228.4)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

14 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors