Memphis Grizzlies: What went wrong in loss to the Raptors?

The Memphis Grizzlies dominated the first half of Friday night’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors, but a blown 17-point lead leaves them at 8-17.

The Memphis Grizzlies entered tonight needing to have a successful four game homestand. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the memo, and in the second half, they fizzled away a 17-point lead. A Ben McLemore missed 360 dunk, horrible ball movement and a lack of rhythm had the Grizzlies on the ropes with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Eventually, the Grizzlies dropped their second straight game, 116-107.

How did they fall apart?

It’s funny you asked, the Grizzlies are melting down. Several things happened in 24 minutes that had the Grizzlies looking lost. They were overpassing, rotations were not good, and an overall lack of confidence killed this team down the stretch. It seems that when things are going south on the offensive end, great teams focus on defense; this team does the opposite.

Honestly, they weren’t consistent anywhere tonight. Both offense were shooting well (not good for the Grizzlies), and eventually turnovers knocked the Grizzlies on their butts.

Just how bad does it get with this team? J.B. Bickerstaff was down to one timeout with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter from trying to stop the Raptors’ runs. Toronto’s defense picked up, and the Grizzlies rotational players couldn’t shoot, which equaled packing the paint. When the Raptors packed the paint, Gasol disappeared, and Tyreke Evans was forced to do it by himself.

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How to fix the issue

• Give Andrew Harrison additional minutes and take Mario Chalmers’ courttime away for awhile. Don’t get me wrong, I like Chalmers — always have — but something is wrong. Right now, Harrison is the better backup point guard, no question.
• Feature Dillon Brooks in the Evans-Gasol pick and rolls. It doesn’t have to be just Evans and Gasol in these sequences. The weak side is consistently open in these sets. Brooks has a lot of talent along with James Ennis. Why bring these guys on the court only to not use them? Fix this issue, and Gasol and Evans can close games.
• Put 48 minutes of defense together. I understand it won’t happen over night, but to quote Gasol “we all speak English.” Talk out defensive rotations. The weak side is consistently open, then there’s not rebounding when a shot is missed.

Hopefully, they can turn this around tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder.