Into the Bears’ Den: January Review – Grizzlies worst loss
In this week’s edition of “Into the Bears’ Den,” our writers will breakdown the Grizzlies’ performance in January throughout the week.
No one ever wants to talk about a loss. For the Grizzlies, these losses weren’t pretty. Some were nail-bitters. Others were blowouts. In some games, role players went bonkers from the field.
Parker Fleming, Jackson Munyon, Jakob Eliason, Jerrod Smith and Jake Finnen share their picks for worst Grizzlies’ loss of the month.
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Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA): January 15th – Rockets 119, Grizzlies 95
This wasn’t a bad loss to an awful team. Thanks to the Beard and Mike D’Antoni’s wizardry, the Rockets are a scary team. There’s just no reason to lose by 20 or more points at home. On top of that, the Grizzlies let another role player go off for a career-high against them as Sam Dekker scored 30 points. Unacceptable.
Jackson Munyon (@jackson_munyon04): January 4th – Clippers 115, Grizzlies 106
Before their thrilling win against the Warriors, the Grizzlies had one of the worst losses of the season.
The Clippers didn’t have Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. The Grizzlies should’ve salvaged that great opportunity to win. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies couldn’t stop Austin Rivers who scored 28 points, giving the Clippers the series lead. Despite the disappointing loss, Memphis was able to bounce back in a big way when they traveled to Oakland, and got the huge win over Golden State.
Jakob Eliason (@jakobeliason): January 11 – Thunder 103, Grizzles 95
To be clear: I was present in Oklahoma City for this game. It was one of the sloppier offensive games I’ve seen from Memphis. The Grizzlies missed so many easy shots that Chandler Parsons led the way with 14 points for a majority of the game. He didn’t even play 19 minutes.
The last time OKC and Memphis matched up, it was a blowout. True, Russell Westbrook was ejected in the third quarter – but he had ZERO assists when that happened. He was borderline irrelevant.
OKC stands between Memphis and the highly desired four-seed. They’re beatable, and we proved that. Losing to a beatable team that is only in their position because of one player is inexcusable.
Jerrod Smith (@jerrod_smith7): January 15th- Bulls 108, Grizzlies 104
For me, this clearly has to be the worst loss of the month.
The Bulls have been struggling and their coach, Fred Hoiberg has no control over his guys. In addition, Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo are stirring controversy. They’re supposed to be the leaders of the team!
There was no reason the Grizzlies should’ve lost to the dysfunctional Bulls or let McBuckets go for 30. The Grizzlies have to start beating weaker teams and stop allowing role players go for career-highs.
Jake Finnen (#Twitterless): January 15th – Bulls 108, Grizzlies 104
Yep, this one was easy. Not only did I see it in person, but I saw it coming.
First of all, I won’t touch the Doug McDermott aspect because Jerrod touched on it enough. Much like the loss to the Rockets, the Grizzlies dared Dekker and McDermott beat them with their shooting and they did. That aside, if there is one person in the league that has established themselves as THE 4th quarter player, it’s Jimmy Butler. His mid-range, step-back is lethal and he absolutely shook Tony Allen to go ahead by two, basically the game-winning shot. Then he made a diving steal to win the game for the Bulls.
It was bad.
This demoralizing loss falls under the category of, “We lost because our best player lost to their best player.” (Since Tony Allen is the heart of the Grizzlies defense) I think the feeling is more common among prizefighters and cockfights – but I refuse to speak further on the subject without my lawyer.
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