A 38-point fourth quarter from helped the Grizzlies rally from a double-digit deficit and trim the Suns lead to two points, but Phoenix prevailed 112-110 to tie the season series at 2-2. At one point in the game, Phoenix was up as many as 29 points.
After winning 11 straight games, Memphis has now lost two games in a row by a total of three points.
Ja Morant led the Grizzlies with 27 points, eight assists, and five rebounds and Desmond Bane added 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Ziaire Williams chipped in season-high tying 16 points as a reserve, including a franchise-record 79-foot buzzer-beater to close out the third quarter.
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said he was proud of the team’s effort to get back in the game but he was not happy with the team’s road woes.
Jenkins said, “I was proud of them, but I said you can’t come out with that mentality on the road. We’re two games, I think, below .500. We’ve got to get better. This is a great learning opportunity, so we still got a long road trip ahead against really good teams.
“I say we just gotta take it one day at a time,” Jenkins added. “But use this as an opportunity to get better. We haven’t lived up to our standard on the road, but I want to take this as an opportunity, middle of the season, good teams out west — we had this back in December — we’ve got to respond. And I have the belief that our guys will. It may not happen overnight, but luckily they’re aware that we have to be better in these situations.”
Memphis is 11-12 on the road and 20-3 at home.
“Good teams win at home,” Morant told The Athletic’s Kelly Iko in an exclusive. “Great teams win on the road. That’s been our identity since I got here. Road warriors. This year, we haven’t been bringing that intensity on the road.”
“Early on, we missed a lot of shots we normally make,” Morant told the media after the loss. “They were making them on the other end. Obviously, basketball is 48 minutes, a game of runs. I just feel like we got to be better, knowing when our shots aren’t falling, know to lock it in even more on defense then getting stops and then pretty much not dropping our heads after a team scores a couple of times or goes on a run; we just got to come out and be ready to fight.”
“You got to create your own energy,” said Dillon Brooks. “The crowd is a big thing in this league, and you have to find a way to create your own energy. The Western Conference is a tougher conference, so [it’s about] finding a way to create our own energy on this road trip and bouncing back after these two losses.”
Tid-Bit
NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe apologized for his actions against the Grizzlies on Friday night during the Lakers game on Friday night.
Up Next
The Grizzlies are in Sacramento Monday to take on a hot Kings team that’s trying to cement its place in the top echelon of the Western Conference. It’s a late tip-off: 9:30 pm CT.