Memphis Grizzlies lose close game to Orlando Magic: Quick Hits

Without starting point guard Mike Conley, the Memphis Grizzlies lost a close game against the surging Orlando Magic, 101-99. What were the main takeaways?

The Memphis Grizzlies were in familiar territory. They were short three starters due to injury. What do you know? Nothing new.

The Magic came out hot, drilling their first field goal attempts (all 3’s). However, the bench once again came in and saved the day, overcoming a first quarter deficit to close with a three-point lead.

It was close all game, but the Magic’s defense was too much in the fourth quarter. While the Grizzlies scored 24 points — and outscored the Magic by four — Orlando forced back-to-back shot-clock violations and did anything possible to clog the lane for Tyreke Evans. Those two sequences were crucial in determining this game.

What were some quick takeaways from this loss? Is it too early to panic?

Quick Hits

• Marc Gasol bounced back after two single-digit scoring outings. He finished the game with 22 points and eight rebounds, doing whatever he can to fill the void from Mike Conley.
• Chandler Parsons continues to help in various ways on the court. Even though he finished without a single field goal make, he dropped six assists and was a team-high +17 on the court.
• Mario Chalmers’ play in the last minute was terrible. For one, there’s no way you get a call on a fast break when you intentionally slow down and blatantly bump into someone. Secondly, you have two guys with 32 and 22 points, respectively. Feed them the basketball! Chalmers has a tendency of getting tunnel vision when driving to the paint, and tonight showed the harms of such play.
• I like that Dillon Brooks took the go-ahead 3 attempt. Even though they didn’t need a 3-pointer, Brooks knew he had a wide-open attempt, and it just rimmed out. The kid shows no fear.
• The Orlando Magic are a legitimate playoff team. In the post-Dwight era, Orlando really only had three good players on a team at a time. Now, they have a solid eight players who can play defense and/or generate offense. Not to mention, they can still go 10-deep.
• Purchase stock in Jonathan Isaac. The kid is going to be a two-way terror here soon.
• Tyreke Evans is the steal of the summer. The fact that the Memphis Grizzlies got him for $3,000,000 should be considered a crime. He’s been a huge lift off the bench for the Grizzlies. He can run the offense, take people off the dribble and finish at the rim  (The good in the ‘tunnel vision’ mindset). Not to mention, his long-range shot has looked well. A huge concern for the Grizzlies coming into the season was, who was going to step up as the third best player? Tyreke Evans has been that guy.

Next: Ben McLemore assigned to G-League

What’s next?

The Memphis Grizzlies will start a five-game road trip with a back-to-back against the Clippers and Lakers on Saturday and Sunday. We’ll see if they can capture their momentum during this road trip.