Memphis Grizzlies: 5 takeaways from first loss of the season

No. 1: Tyreke Evans is the perfect sixth man for this team

Let’s start with a bright spot — the only one in this post.

Tyreke Evans simply brought the Grizzlies back into the game in the first half. If it weren’t for him, we might’ve seen our first regular season look at Kobi Simmons and Ivan Rabb in garbage minutes. Simply put: no Tyreke, game gets ugly.

While the Grizzlies were down in the first half, he was aggressive and attacked the basket. He finished with 11 points in the first half and helped trim the lead to single digits.

Whenever the Grizzlies are struggling out of the gate like this, they need a player like Evans who can generate his own offense and create momentum. Last night, that’s exactly what he did.

With the current starting lineup, there aren’t any scoring threats outside of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. It’s important for the bench — particularly Tyreke Evans — to generate offense.