By athletic standards, Memphis Grizzlies elder statesman Vince Carter is old at 40, but don’t tell him that.
No player this season is older than Carter, but the eight-time All-Star is having a renaissance year with Memphis. His minutes are up from the last two campaigns (23.7), and he’s scoring (8.0), rebounding (3.1) and assisting (1.8) more. Those numbers pale in comparison to what he did in his prime, but the reason Carter’s been able to stay on the court is that of his three-point shooting.
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He’s converting on 37.9 percent of his attempts, the best mark since 39.4 in 2014. In addition to that, his dunks in practice — of the 360 and reverse variety — flood Twitter feeds and show us that he’s still Half-Man, Half-Amazing.
Light work for @mrvincecarter15 💅 pic.twitter.com/NaLmpVuKAY
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) March 13, 2017
Monday night, Carter played a huge role in Memphis’ win over the Milwaukee Bucks that snapped a five-game losing streak. He dropped 24 points on a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, which included 6-of-6 from three and he also knocked in his only two free throws for good measure. Vinsanity’s wild night made him just the sixth 40-year-old to have a 20-point game, and he’s the only player that age to make more than five threes, according to Basketball-Reference.
The Grizzlies dropped the Bucks 113-93 and improved to 37-30 on the year, but that wasn’t before falling down to the seventh seed in the West. Memphis has 15 games left on their schedule, and the NBA wasn’t too kind when making it for them. Their homestretch is highlighted by eight games on the road which includes matchups against the Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons.
As if it weren’t unfavorable enough, the Grizzlies face the Spurs three times before the season concludes — and only one of them is at home. The good thing is Memphis has a five-game cushion on the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets, so, barring catastrophe, the Grizzlies should be safe come playoff time.
The current standings have Memphis meeting Golden State in the first round, and that’s a team who the Grizzlies have beaten twice this year.
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