The Memphis Grizzlies are in a really surprising place so far in 2021, all things considered. Sure, they’re coming off of a brutal loss against the Golden State Warriors, but without their second option, nobody can complain about being in position for the NBA Playoffs.
This would be a play-in game due to a change in rules for a shortened season, but the Grizzlies would have really strong odds if they made it that far.
But there’s one thing holding this team back.
If you go back and look at the Grizzlies’ schedule, you’ll notice that they have a handful of strong wins against teams that are going to make a deep playoff run.
These aren’t flukey wins either — Memphis has been the better team on those nights. In some games, they’ve planted a thought in the thoughts of every fan watching behind a TV screen: this team might be capable of making a playoff run.
But then we’ll watch them lose to a team filled with G-League players like the Oklahoma City Thunder and all hope will go down the drain.
The good Memphis Grizzlies are in a battle with the bad Memphis Grizzlies
In every way, this has been a rollercoaster of a season. That’s not being said hyperbolically either, this team has reached incredible peaks and fallen into incredible valleys with no warning whatsoever.
Take the Grizzlies most recent games for example:
- Denver Nuggets (Healthy)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (injury riddled)
- Phoenix Suns (Healthy)
- Miami Heat (Healthy)
- Golden State Warriors (injury riddled)
Taking a glance at that list, you’d likely have them coming away with a two victories. That’s not a knock on the Grizzlies, it’s just a really hard schedule. Those victories would come against two teams that are playing a handful of G-League players while struggling with injuries, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors.
But that’s not how things went.
In fact, the Grizzlies lost both of those games and they looked like the worse team by a mile. Against OKC, they blew a late lead and showed their youth as the second-youngest team in the NBA. Against the Warriors, they were outplayed start to finish, even though the Grizzlies were missing just about everybody except for Draymond Green.
It’s not all bad though — the Grizzlies went 1-2 in the other games, defeating a really good Miami Heat team and barely losing to a strong Nuggets team.
Taylor Jenkins has an odd way of coaching, but it won’t suffice if the Grizzlies want to be in the playoffs. Memphis has to find some consistency and find it fast. The only guy who has brought consistency to this team is Jonas Valanciunas, and that has proven to not be enough.
Finding consistency starts with Ja Morant. Nobody will complain about how he has played this year. The problem is that his results on the stat sheet have translated directly to Grizzlies wins and losses — and Morant has been wildly inconsistent.
Morant, along with other players, will need to step up down the stretch if the Grizzlies want to have a chance at being competitive this year.