On Sunday night in Los Angeles, the Memphis Grizzlies dropped their second consecutive game to the Lakers, 120-114, allowing the Los Angeles to sweep the season series.
Strap in, because this isn’t going to be fun.
It is an extra brutal loss because the Grizzlies basically handed it to the Lakers in the fourth quarter, after leading by as many as 16 points.
What is the opposite of clutch? Because that’s where this team is right now.
The NBA considers “clutch time” as the final five minutes of either the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points.
Los Angeles is a stronger team in clutch situations than Memphis, no contest. The Lakers are the top team in the league during clutch time, with a 12-0 record; the Grizzlies are 8-13 in clutch moments.
Seeing the stats doesn’t make it sting any less when it happens, and this isn’t the first time this season we have seen the Grizzlies blow a double-digit lead.
I can sum up this loss in three areas: fouls, free throws, and field-goal attempts.
Memphis had 31 fouls to Los Angeles’ 18, 22 free throw attempts to 41, and yet the Grizzlies had 20 more field goal attempts than the Lakers.
It wasn’t turnovers that fueled this loss; that is a nice change, but irrelevant, as it didn’t result in a positive outcome. The Grizzlies gave up six points off nine turnovers, and converted 11 Lakers’ turnovers into 17 points.
The Lakers outscored the Grizzlies 66-49 in the second half, 37-27 in the fourth quarter. Their stars showed up in a big way, with Luka Doncic leading all scorers with 36 points and LeBron James scoring 26 points. But Los Angeles got some offensive firepower from a familiar face – former Grizzly Jake LaRavia — who also added 26 points.
Rookie Cedric Coward was on track for an exceptional game until he turned his ankle in the second quarter and could not return to play. Coward had 16 points on 6 of 9 overall shooting and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, along with eight rebounds, when he exited the game.
The Grizzlies went into the second half with an 11-point lead, which the Lakers dismantled in the fourth quarter, despite Jaylen Wells scoring 15 of his 23 points in the final frame.
There isn’t much else to say, but on to the next one.
Right now, the Grizzlies are being held together with duct tape, bubble gum, and 10-day contracts. Memphis signed center Christian Koloko to a second 10-day hardship exception contract on Friday, before the first of two games against the Lakers.
The hardship exception allows teams to temporarily exceed the 15-man roster limit when four or more players have missed at least three games in a row and are expected to be unavailable for at least two more weeks. Teams are only allowed to sign a player to two 10-day contracts, so if the Grizzlies want to keep Koloko around beyond January 11, they will have to sign him for the remainder of the season.
Things are looking bleak for the Grizzlies right now, and with so many unknowns and injured players, brighter days could be far beyond the horizon. They haven’t had a fully healthy team all season and aren’t likely to have one anytime soon.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies will return to Memphis for a four-game homestand, starting on January 6th against the San Antonio Spurs. Tip-off is at 7 PM CST.
