Grizz Fall Apart Late Again, Warriors Snap Home Losing Streak.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies lost last night to the Golden State Warriors, 113-114.

Despite a hot start the Grizz were outscored in the fourth 15 to 29 and in the end, didn’t even get a shot off while time expired.

This marks now the 13 time this year the Grizzlies have lost while leading by 10 in the fourth.

The game was relatively back and forth until the 3rd. The Grizz came out hot and were able to get up as much as 17 before the start of the third.

If the Grizzlies are “tanking,” I couldn’t tell. These young guys were battling hard to try and snag a win. They were aggressive defensively, getting good looks at the basket and putting the pressure on the Steph Curry-less Warriors.

The Grizzlies are now 20-32 on the season and on the outside looking in from the play-in tournament. The Los Angeles Clippers hold the 10th spot, just 5 games ahead of Memphis.

Ty Jerome led the way with 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists. Jahmai Mashack, who was incredible on defense last night, finished with 17 pts, both Taylor Hendricks and KCP added 15 pts, Hendricks also pulled down 10 rebounds.

The biggest news coming out of the game was that rookie sensation Cedric Coward left the game in the second, after landing awkwardly trying to grab a rebound, it was stated that he did something to his knee.

I mean geez, we just had a great looking injury list, only 5 guys out, most of which we knew were out. Walter Clayton Jr. was held out due to his calf contusion.

Coward only played 12 minutes, putting up 2 pts, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Golden State had 7 players with double-digit points; Pat Spencer led the way with 17. Gui Santos had 16 pts and 8 rebounds, Al Horford and Brandin Podziemski also added 16.

It was a weird game for sure; I was convinced that the Grizz were going to pull it out. They had them on the ropes and just failed to score anything of note with about 5 minutes left to play.

The crowd started getting back into the game and once the Warriors were within 2 the place was electric. Both teams didn’t play a complete great game, but the Warriors got it done during “winning time.”

Golden State was marginally better in shooting percentages, rebounds, assists, and points in the paint. The Grizz were able to force 23 points off 23 turnovers and had 17 fast break points, the Warriors 11 fast break points were mostly scored in the fourth.

It was visible as the Grizz walked off the court that GG Jackson was upset, he wanted that win.

I don’t blame him; they played a really good game and came up just short. It really isn’t in these guys DNA to take losses as a sign of growth, but they can learn from this and be better going down the stretch.

It won’t help their draft positioning, but stacking a few wins here and there can be beneficial to a teams make up, especially with these guys being so young.

Take the medicine and learn from it.

At least they didn’t have a brawl like the Hornets and Pistons did.

The worst part of all of this, is that the team has a pretty good make up, and I understand why they blew it up, but man it would be interesting to see what this team would’ve looked like down the stretch, had they decided to push this off until the offseason.

Regardless, we are here, losing games at the end and with plenty more to play. The Grizz will have one more game before the All-Star Break activities begin.

Be sure to watch the Rising Stars Game; Jaylen Wells, Cam Spencer, and Cedric Coward all got the nod for the West, and it would be good to see them showcase their talents in front of a national audience.

We will still have to wait and see what comes of the Cedric injury, which sucks because he is clearly the guy the Grizz want to build around going forward.

They will take on the Denver Nuggets tomorrow in Denver before coming home for the break.

This will mark the second time the Grizz will play the Nuggets, as the actual second game that was scheduled was postponed due to the inclement winter weather that swept through the south at the end of January.