Jonas Valanciunas is the key for the Grizzlies

Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant were the scoring leaders for the Grizzlies in Game 1, but the contributions Jonas Valanciunas made were the reason why Memphis won. He finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds on the night, which does not seem that impressive, but he also finished with the highest +/- out of anybody that played in Game 1 at +15. 

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When he was off-the-court, Utah was able to fight and claw their way back into the game, but as soon as he came back into the game, things changed back in favor of the Grizzlies in a heartbeat. Just his presence in the paint and his ability to thwart the Jazz from having second-chance opportunities was key for the Grizzlies to hang on and win Game 1. 

Overall, Valanciunas is one of the most underrated centers in the entire league given the contributions he can give his team on both ends of the court. He is not much of a shot-blocker like Rudy Gobert, but Jonas Valanciunas alters his opponent’s approach to driving to the rim and his ability to rebound is elite.

Not many teams have a center that can matchup with Rudy Gobert in the paint, but Jonas Valanciunas is one of the few guys that can find a lot of success doing so. He is going to be key for the Grizzlies in this series and if he continues to dominate the paint like he did in Game 1, then Memphis will have control of this series.