40 Points from Morant Isn’t Enough, as Grizz Fall in OT to Philly.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies lost an epic game last night to the Philadelphia 76er’s 139-136.

With 1.7 left in regulation the Grizzlies had the ball and were looking to break the tie at 128 and get out with a win. Santi Aldama, who was fouled on the play, took a three-point shot that came up short.

The game seemed to be in favor of the Grizzlies, but with 6:16 left in the game Ja Morant and Cedric Coward were pulled for 1:52 of rest, allowing the Sixers to go from a 1-point lead to a 7-point lead.

That was the game, I don’t get it. If you were playing for overtime, you got it. Why not play for the win?

Cedric Coward posted 28 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 assist, Ja Morant scored a whopping 40 points, with 2 rebounds, and 3 assists. These two were cooking and it only seems fair to keep them in.

Jaylen Wells added 14 pts, 4 reb, and 2 assists. Santi Aldama had 15 pts, 6 reb, and 2 assist and Jaren Jackson Jr. put up 15 pts, 12 reb, 3 assists, and 3 blocks.

Jaren didn’t play a lights out game, but brother if you get 12 rebounds a game the city might burn down out of joy.

The Forum was alive and oddly filled with a number of Sixers fans, Memphis you must do better than to let some of these fans get in.

I get it, you can buy tickets whenever, but geez support the guys. I am sick of hearing the crowd cheer for guys I have never heard of on the other team.

Coaching decisions ultimately led to the Grizz losing that game. GG Jackson getting 23 minutes is just not going to cut it.

Yes, he is young, but he is not a smart player, taking shots way too early in the shot clock, throwing the ball away, and getting cooked on defense. There’s not a lot of bodies to throw out there, but he should not be getting more minutes than Cam Spencer.

Cam, who wasn’t in on the final look in regulation, again stupid coaching decision. How do you justify leaving the best shooter on the team and one of the best shooters in the league on the bench for a shot that has 1.7 seconds left.

Use Ja to draw the men and boom Cam has enough space to hit the three. They will be looking for it, but I will take my chances every day and twice on Sunday that Cam hits that shot.

There was an obvious concerted effort to keep someone on Cam tight all night, but you need to draw up plays and get that guy open, he is a difference maker.

For the Sixers, they were led by their stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Both putting up 34 points, Embiid had 10 reb and Maxey had 12 assists to help Philly get past the Grizzlies.

Budding rookie V.J Edgecombe posted 25 pts, 6 reb, and 4 assists, he was all over the court and hit about 50% of his shots. Outside of those guys the Sixers were helped by Paul George’s 17 pt game.

The Grizzlies led in rebounds, shooting percentage, blocks, turnovers, points in the paint, and fast break points.

The Grizzlies had 20 turnovers to the Sixers 9, that’s right you read that correctly, they had 9 turnovers.

If the Grizzlies have 5 less turnovers they win the game, but they keep deciding that cross court passes with men all over the floor is smart.

They need to stop that, remember when the Spurs would have everyone touch the ball before the shot? Do that and you will win more games than you should, even if you are as down bad as the Grizzlies are.

Iisalo talks about the short term and long term, well buddy the short term is that you can’t coach a winning game against teams that have records over .500, long term might be you are out of a job.

As frustrating as all of this was last night, there is no denying that Ja Morant is a star and when he goes to the basket there are very few guys that can stay with him or stop him.

Weaving in and out of defenders, while putting up a nice lay-up is not easy when the speed and ferocity of the play is between two maybe three guys.

Let me shout out Bill Kennedy though, he is a referee that the league loves and the fans are starting to love him too. His ability to clearly define what was seen, what the rules are, and what the call is has fans and commentators waiting with bated breath what he will say next.

He has a sense for comedy, his pauses and inflection make for a good moment, even if he is calling it in the other team’s favor.

A lot of fans are disgruntled by the way the team lost that game, but anyone that watched that game or was in the arena would agree it was a fun one and that the stars were out on a national broadcast.

The New Year is upon us, hopefully we can look back at the beginning of the season as just a flash in the pan.

A new year brings new guys back into the fold soon, Ty Jerome, Scottie Pippen Jr. and Zach Edey (fingers crossed) with these additions I hope to God that they can stay on the court.

They really could be the winds that stoke a fire for the Grizzlies. We know what Edey and Scottie can do, now let’s get another guard out there with Ty Jerome. He is defensively sound and can score a lot of points.

Optimism is the word for 2026, optimism that they will stay healthy, optimism that they can make it in the playoffs, optimism that this year will end differently.

So be optimistic, it can’t get much worse than what we have experienced watching them lose two games to the Wizards.

At least I hope not.

Your Memphis Grizzlies will begin the New Year on January 2nd on the West Coast as they will take on the 5th place Los Angeles Lakers.