Memphis Grizzlies: Ranking NBA Playoff Runs During The Mike Conley, Marc Gasol Era

2016

The 2016 Grizzlies team in the playoffs was much different than the roster throughout the season as they were decimated with injuries. They were still able to make the playoffs as the seven seed, but they were unable to win a game during the series against the Spurs as they were outscored by a total of 88 points.

In this series they had four players average double figures in Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, Lance Stephenson, and Matt Barnes, with Randolph and Stephenson leading the way with 13 points per game.

A few guys in the playoff rotation such as Jordan Farmar and Chris Anderson were signed late in the season to help overcome some of the injuries the team was dealing with. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol’s injuries were key, but even some of their replacements such as Mario Chalmers were unable to go in the playoffs.

Lance Stephenson’s play was one of the highlights of this series. He had an excellent game four performance as he finished with 26 points and 3 assists. He was 11-19 from the field and 4-5 from the free-throw line.

Getting swept isn’t the goal in the playoffs, but with all the injuries they had just making the playoffs was a success. With the Grizzlies not expected to be back in the postseason for at least a couple of years, we can still appreciate the success that the 2015-16 team had.