[Vardon] Jaren Jackson Jr.:“You just got to keep drinking water. And then we go home and get a good meal and drink some water. You know? It just tastes good.”

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“I’m just working on my reps, day in and day out, like staying on myself and not taking anything for granted, and drinking a lot more water,” Jaren Jackson said Thursday night after the Grizzlies’ latest win, a 108-95 domination of the Los Angeles Lakers. “Basically a combo of those two things, just work and water.”

The Grizzlies’ story of resilience starts with Jackson, because he is their anchor with Ja Morant recovering from the sprained knee he suffered on Nov. 26. Teams can fall apart when their best player gets injured — just ask any team LeBron James has ever played for — but the Grizzlies have not done that, and Jackson is one reason why.

Jackson, who signed a four-year, $105 million contract extension just before the season started, led Memphis with 25 points against the Lakers. Since Morant has been out, Jackson has scored 25 or more points four different times. He is fifth in the NBA with 1.9 blocks per game, and he is the only player in the top 20 in blocks who is also making two 3s per game. He’s averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 boards for the season.

After having missed most of last season due to a torn meniscus, Jackson got off to a slow start in this campaign. He was criticized for it, and there were already grumblings from those critics about the risk the Grizzlies took in granting him that contract extension, and this week his coach, Taylor Jenkins, attributed those struggles to the weight of expectations.

But Jackson has worked through his trouble. He is attacking the basket more frequently, finishing flawlessly with an unguardable left-handed shot, even though he is right-handed. The Grizzlies are asking more of him on defense, asking him to participate in more complex coverages that he has been able to handle. And he is apparently hydrating with an extra-large “canteen” of water each day.

“You just got to keep drinking water,” he insisted. “And then we go home and get a good meal and drink some water. You know? It just tastes good.”

In addition to the individual contributions of the players mentioned here, the Grizzlies have also recommitted themselves to defending. Heading into the Laker game, Memphis had limited opponents to 92.5 points on .387 shooting in its previous six games. No team had played better defense during that stretch. Thursday was more of the same. The Grizzlies stole the ball nine times in the second quarter against the Lakers — a franchise record.

Through the first 19 games of this season, the Grizzlies were allowing 116.4 points on .484 shooting.