The Memphis Grizzlies suffered their third straight loss Friday night, falling 127-97 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a humbling defeat and extending the Thunder’s regular season winning streak against the Grizzlies to 13 games.
Woof.
The matchup also marked Memphis’ first NBA Cup game of the season. Introduced a few seasons ago, the NBA Cup is the league’s in-season tournament, which seems to exist largely to give gamblers something else to bet on.
Let’s get into it.
The Grizzlies entered Friday night’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder as the NBA’s most accurate three-point shooting team. That is very much no longer the case.
They couldn’t buy a bucket from beyond the arc, missing 18 of their first 20 three-point attempts before finishing a miserable 10 of 45 (22.2 percent). Memphis shot a season-low 33 percent from the field, a far cry from the offensive efficiency that helped the team open the season with six wins in its first eight games.
In a game where seemingly everything went right for Oklahoma City and almost nothing fell for Memphis, the Grizzlies did themselves no favors by not taking care of the ball. It was one of Memphis’ worst games of the season in terms of ball security, reflected in the 30 points they allowed the Thunder to score off their 18 turnovers.
The wheels came off in the second quarter. Oklahoma City unleashed a 9-0 run to build a 50-36 advantage, then continued piling on. The Thunder outscored Memphis 36-21 in the period, taking a commanding 71-49 lead into halftime.
It was more of the same in the second half, and Memphis couldn’t get out of a double-digit deficit for the rest of the game. And that was the ballgame.
If fans weren’t already asking whether the Grizzlies’ start was sustainable, they should be now. Will this Grizzlies team keep outperforming predictions, or is it time to manage our collective expectations?
By The Numbers:
Ty Jerome provided one of the few bright spots for Memphis, finishing with a team-high 21 points and five assists. It marked his sixth 20-point performance of the young season.
Rookie Cam Boozer pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to go with his eight points. Boozer had a rough night offensively, shooting 2 of 14 overall and 0 of 8 from beyond the arc. Four of his eight points came off free throws.
Zach Edey contributed a season-high 14 points and six rebounds.
From the second unit, Jerami Grant and Javon Small each put up 10 points.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are heading north to face the Toronto Raptors on Monday, November 9th. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. CST.
