Hornets stun Grizzlies in first home loss

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Sharon Brown

Share the joy

Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets gave the Grizzlies their first home loss of the season. The Grizzlies entered the game with the best record in the NBA. With their loss against Charlotte, Memphis fell to 5-2 for the season.

In the previous four games at the FedEx Forum, the Grizzlies held their opponents to sub-40 percent shooting. Charlotte was the first team this season to shoot at least 40 percent against the home team. The Hornets shot 41.6 percent from the field going 37-of-89.

The Grizzlies four-game streak of holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting at home was the longest such streak in franchise history.

The Grizzlies second unit outscored the Hornets bench 51-39, to run the season-long totals to 297-165 in favor of the Grizzlies bench, including a 246-113 mark at home.

Hornets

Kemba Walker led all scorers with 27 points (7-15 FG, 1-5 3P, 12-13 FT), his third straight game with at least 25 points and his fifth 20-point performance of the season.

Jeremy Lamb added 17 points and eight rebounds.

Malik Monk chipped in 13 points off the bench

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist perfect from the field going 5-of-5 with 10 points.

Grizzlies

Tyreke Evans led the Grizzlies with a season-high tying 19 points (6-17 FG, 2-6 3P, 5-5 FT) in 30 minutes as a reserve for his first double-double of the season. Evans has reached double-digit scoring in six of his seven appearances this season, all coming off the Grizzlies’ bench.

Mike Conley finished with 16 points and six assists.

Dillon Brooks with a near double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds.

James Ennis, III scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds.

What They Said!!!

David Fizdale

On the game:

“Everything went wrong at the same time. It just seemed like we couldn’t make a layup when we had a layup. When we had open threes, we couldn’t make open threes. We ended up passing up two or three open shots that we should’ve taken. Again, I’ve got to watch the film. I don’t want to speak too soon, but I thought we messed with the game again and didn’t play with a lead like we were supposed to for whatever reason. Defensively, we just had some air head mistakes that we normally haven’t been making where we gave up threes, didn’t stop the ball twice on the weak side. We got sucked in on stuff that we normally don’t get sucked in on and gave up threes on the weak side. Frustrating, but we’ll get into the film and we’ll learn from it.

Shot selection:

“I liked some of the shots, but there was a stretch for about three minutes where I thought we were globetrotters passing up stuff that were wide open. The perfect possession was when I think three guys had an open shot on a play where Dillon [Brooks] got a charge, and that’s what we ended up with in the possession when we could’ve ended up having good shots on those plays. Credit to them. They kept coming at us. They kept playing hard, and they took that win in the fourth quarter.”

On losing leads:

“I’m going to get into the film and watch when we have leads, and see what’s happening to us. I know a lot of it is casual play and that will always get you burnt in this league. It’s so easy to lose a lead with the way teams shoot the ball. I felt like a few times on the glass, we didn’t check out. [Cody] Zeller was all over it, getting to the ball quicker than us, but it almost felt like we were playing the clock and not the game. Like I said, a lot of this is me speculating off what I just saw. I want to get into the film and find out for sure what happened.”

Mike Conley

On the team’s shooting:

“Yeah, we missed some shots, but you’ve got to give them credit. They made plays down the stretch. They hurt us in the fourth quarter. We didn’t take advantage of opportunities – free throws, layups, anything that we had good looks on that teams have to capitalize on, especially in late game situations.”

Marc Gasol

On the role that shooting played in the loss:

“It’s [that], and not getting enough stops at the same time. We missed too many [shots], especially down the stretch. I made the wrong read too many times. When I saw space, I maybe shot it too quick, forced a couple maybe I shouldn’t have. But at the same time, I think we couldn’t get stops to keep the game in our favor.”

On the team’s trouble finishing at the rim:

“Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in. I don’t think it’s sloppy play. Trust me. In ten years, I still haven’t met a player that wants to miss on purpose.”

Kemba Walker

On what changed in the final eight minutes:

“Our defensive intensity – it went up just like it was supposed to. We just got stops, man. That was a key thing, we were able to get stops. We got lucky a few times as well. Mike [Conley], who’s a fantastic three-point shooter, he missed a few open ones, but we were able to get the rebound as well and push our pace. Then, we were able to get to the line as well, which helped us a lot.”