Colin Rafferty –
Your Memphis Grizzlies lost last night to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 116-117.
A complete meltdown at the end of the game and the Grizzlies saw their lead and what looked like a win, blow away like a feather in the wind.
2 points in the last 3:19 of the game. That is just bad.
The score was 105-114 with 3 minutes left. How in the world do you lose that game?
The Thunder didn’t have SGA, Hartenstein, Holmgren, or Jaylin Williams out on the court, including three other guys. Seven players were not available; they had circled this game as a win without half their team.
Despite getting out to an incredibly hot start the Grizzlies offense faded in the second half. Through the first quarter they had shot 6/11 from three, that’s great if you can continue to play the entire game.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led the way for the Grizz with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist. GG Jackson had 18 pts off the bench, and they had seven guys score double-digit points.
The Thunder were led by the other Jalen Williams who posted 26 pts, 10 assist, and 5 rebounds. They had 3 players score 20+ and even though they were undersized, OKC was able to pester the Grizzlies and force them into bad turnovers.
Let me get this out though, I hate Lou Dort and I hate Alex Caruso. I wouldn’t if Draymond were to take one of them out. Constantly grabbing, fouling, and then turning to the refs to work them over when a foul is called on them. I can’t stand it, it goes for the whole team, but those guys are the worst.
It was a true tale of two halves; the Grizzlies dominated the first and the Thunder took care of the second. OKC didn’t score 30 in either the first or second quarter but had 35 and 36 respectively in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
The Grizz had 35 and 30 in the first two, 29 and 22 in the final two. I blinked and the Thunder had gotten back into the game and the energy had shifted.
It was weird, ridiculous and frustrating. They looked like the better team on the floor and just squandered it. Dominating the boards (52-32) and had more assists (35-24). Yet again, they continue to throw the ball away posting a whopping 17 turnovers to the Thunders 6.
Cedric Coward, GG Jackson, and Jock Landale played well, but that was just in the first half. Landale was grabbing rebounds, second chance opportunities and getting some easy looks down low. GG was hitting threes and getting to the basket, and Ced looked like he was in complete control for the first quarter.
They had the energy and effort, whatever happened in the locker room at half stuck with them and they couldn’t keep up the intensity.
There was a weird energy in the stadium as earlier in the day there was a report that the Grizzlies were “entertaining the idea” of possibly trading away Ja Morant.
I will say this again; I don’t think this is a good idea and the way this is being handled makes me think he is gone. Truly a sad day for the city, if they decide to move on from him.
Has anyone considered that he is acting this way because he doesn’t like the direction of the team, when we told him this was his team and his franchise.
Maybe they should think about that, he is the franchise player, you don’t make his life hard by not listening to him.
What has this coach done? Lose is all I can see; lose games they can win, look bad against teams they should beat, and get pummeled by teams that just want it more. He hasn’t shown any signs of understanding the feel for the game, his substitutions have everybody in the stadium upset, and he talks about short- , medium- , and long-term approaches like there’s any growth.
Well buddy, in short – you are losing games, and there should be no reward for being a coach who doesn’t make any changes and puts their star in a situation like this.
The Grizzlies will try to salvage at least one of these home games, on this stretch on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets.
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