Grizzlies fall to Hawks 95-83: The Back to Back Was Just Too Much
We all knew it probably wasn’t going to pretty last night. The Grizzlies headed in to play the Hawks with a limited roster and on the second night of a back to back. The injury-ridden Grizzlies have surprised us time and time again but last night it just wasn’t going to be.
Memphis played hard in the first quarter and part of the second quarter. They went on a 17-1 run into the second quarter for a 12 point lead. They played strong defense and offense. Then exhaustion and lack of experience would kick in and allow the Hawks to overcome our short-handed squad.
Memphis would lose their 12 point lead and finish the second quarter down by 8. It’s no surprise that eventually the Grizzlies suffered offensively. Three of the ten men to touch the court had been with the team for around 36 hours or less. Heck, I needed a guide to know who was who a couple of times. While the Grizzlies managed to play fairly good defense their lack of offense was just too much to overcome.
The Great:
The great thing about last night’s game? This Grizzlies team knows how to fight. This team has been coming out and putting forward effort. Last night some of the shots fell and some of them didn’t. Coach Joeger commented on this saying “..as long as we continue to bring that energy and effort, we give ourselves a chance to win.” Watching this team, even when they were down, play hard has been a pleasure.
The Good:
Offensive rebounds. Last night the Grizzlies grabbed 10 offensive rebounds before the second half was even over. They finished the night with 20 and scored 18 second chance points. If that doesn’t tell you this roster is scrappy and hungry for points I don’t know what does. Maybe the 10 steals they had too? Maybe the hustle we all saw in the first quarter? That hustle is an intangible to me. I know that intangibles don’t always win games but they make them competitive. The Hawks didn’t just get to run away with this game.
The Bad:
Our offense is patchy at best right now. Last night it was isolation street ball playing organized team effort in the second and third quarters. The 16 turnovers committed were evidence to the lack of communication. This isn’t surprising given our current circumstance; it just isn’t a good thing. The Hawks scored 24 points off those 16 turnovers. Our mishaps in the latter part of the second quarter and the third quarter allowed the Hawks opportunities you just cannot give to a good team and expect to win. The Grizzlies attempted 95 shots last night. They only connected 33 of them though, shooting 34.7% over the course of the game. It was not a good night for the Grizzlies offense.
The Ugly:
This one is short. Our roster, or lack-there-of, is ugly right now. Until this team gets some more minutes under their soles and we get healthy there are going to be some ugly games.
Quick game stats:
– The Grizzlies bench out-scored the Hawks bench 54-22. That’s pretty good when you consider the fact that we had 5 guys on our bench to their 7.
– Lance Stephenson was your leading scorer of the night with 18 points. He was followed by Tony Allen whose 15 points made him the only starter to score in double digits.
– The Hawks starters combined for 73 points. Paul Millsap was the leading scorer with 21. Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver combined for 63.6% three-point shooting. They connected 7 of their 11 threes.
– The Grizzlies starters combined for a lousy 29 points on 27.7% shooting. (YUCK!) Matt Barnes was not able to encore his performance against the Pelicans. He only made two shots the entire night for 6 points. At least they were threes right?
Once the final buzzer sounded I didn’t feel disappointed in this team. This modified “Goon Squad” continues to play hard and with heart. They leave it all on the floor. Some games they are coming out on top, others, not. Whatever the outcome of our games we are at least getting to watch some fun basketball. Just when we all thought Grit-and-Grind was going to slip away, it’s found it’s way back into the heartbeat of this franchise. So Grizznation, keep ridin’ with this team, because win or lose, we are going to keep on grindin’.
The Grizzlies are in Houston now to get ready to face the Rockets tomorrow night. Let’s hope some rest will give this tough squad what they need to keep Houston another game behind us in the standings.
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- Memphis at San Antonio: Grizzlies Did Not Layeth the Smacketh Down - March 25, 2017
