New look Grizzlies, same old story

Memphis Grizzlies

New look Grizzlies, same old story

March 5, 2019

2620

The Memphis Grizzlies dropped a game to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The starting lineup the Grizzlies fielded featured zero players that were on the roster opening night. Mike Conley missed the game with “general soreness.” This lineup was a potential look into the future for Memphis. Three starters were acquired from deadline deals. A fourth was acquired during an earlier in-season trade.

Despite the fresh look, Grizzlies fans suffered through an all-too-familiar heartbreaking loss. Earlier in the year, Memphis blew late double digit leads on the road to both the Clippers and Kings. Coming up entirely empty offensively late in games has been a common refrain this season. Time and again, the Grizzlies build a lead you didn’t see coming, only to brick their way through the final five minutes en route to a deflating victory.

Last night was the latest example. The Grizzlies entered the 4th quarter with an 8 point lead. With 6:34 left in the game, Memphis had expanded its lead to 13. From that point forward, they were outscored 23-6. From the 7:35 mark of the 4th quarter to the 0:09 mark, the Grizzlies missed 11 consecutive field goal attempts. For a team that needs to win as much as possible the rest of the season, blowing a lead like this is soul crushing.

A New Hope

A few games ago, a trio of new Grizzlies flashed in their debut together. Avery Bradley, Jonas Valanciunas, and Delon Wright all showed why they could be key members of the team next season. Each showed the same reasons for optimism against the Thunder as well.

Avery Bradley

Bradley had the most volatile performance of any Grizzly last night. He led the team in scoring with 27 points on 11/19 shooting, to go along with 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. For the first three quarters of the game Bradley was creating the offense for Memphis, filling the void in Conley’s absence.

However, late in the game Bradley was forcing the issue. He missed he last 4 shots from the field and had a turnover with 4 minutes remaining and the lead down to 5. Rightly or wrongly, Bradley felt the need to create the offense by his lonesome, and the results were ugly.

Jonas Valanciunas

Valanciunas posted a very Valanciunas-like, hardhat and lunch pail, 16 and 13, with 3 blocks to boot. There aren’t many guys in the league that can absorb contact from Mulan villain Steven Shan-Yu Adams, and continue on their merry little way as if skipping through a field of daisies before banking in a layup.

His lone assist is another example of mounting evidence that JV and Bradley have developed immediate chemistry.

Delon Wright

Wright’s final boxscore line was solid all around. He accumulated 17 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds. He exhibited some of his explosion and quickness to the basket.

Most importantly, he was handing out assists. The inability of the team’s lead ball handler in non-Conley minutes to generate good offense has been an achilles heel all season. Wright racked up his assists mostly from the pick and roll, typically just making the right read. Even this minimum standard of keeping the offense functioning properly is refreshing to Grizzlies fans.

Same Old Story

In the end, Memphis still blew a double digit 4th quarter lead. They missed 11 consecutive field goals during crunch time. The Grizzlies posted a 93.6 offensive rating for the game. For context, Memphis is last in the NBA in offensive rating this season with a mark of 104.3. That nearly 10 point per 100 possessions difference is almost the same as the gap between Memphis and the 3rd best offense of the Denver Nuggets.

The players may change, but the game never does.

Contact Us

Your Bag (0 items)