The Memphis Grizzlies went into Sacramento looking to improve to 3-1. The Kings had other plans as they came from behind to get the victory.
This is a tough loss for a Memphis Grizzlies team that is trying to compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. It is early, so there is no need to overreact. Regardless, Grizz Nation saw last season every game matters.
Memphis lost JaMychal Green in the season-opener, but they also came into this game without Chandler Parsons.
The Grizzlies got off to a good start on Wednesday, but they really struggled in the second half. Memphis had many chances to put the Sacramento Kings away early, but they never took advantage of it.
Memphis got the ball inside early and often, thus leading to a lot of success. For whatever reason, they were unable to continue that success in the second half when they were struggling.
Instead, the Kings were able to attack the paint and score countless baskets at the rim. The Grizzlies had many mistakes on the offensive end, which led to easy baskets for Sacremento.
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Memphis committed 15 turnovers, which led to 21 points, but they also had many bad shot attempts. This led to fastbreak scores. Sacramento had 20 fastbreak points to the Grizzlies’ seven.
Mike Conley led the way for the Grizzlies with 27 points but part of that is flawed with a couple late threes after the game had pretty much been decided. He did score 15 of the Grizzlies 21 fourth-quarter points.
De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield led the way for Sacramento, combining for 44 points. The Kings won the game 97-92 to improve to 2-3 on the early season. The Grizzlies fell to 2-2 and they have to feel like they let this one get away from them.
The bigger storyline — despite that tough loss — is the health of Marc Gasol. He suffered a blow to the shoulder/neck area during the fourth quarter and he went straight to the locker room. His health has got to be a big concern going forward for a frontcourt already missing JaMychal Green.