Memphis Grizzlies: 3 keys to victory at Oklahoma City Thunder

The Memphis Grizzlies need to be able to close out the game

This has been an issue with this Grizzlies team all season. They’re in a position to win near the end of the game, but can’t close it out. It’s one of the risks of having such a young, inexperienced team.

We saw this last night against the Boston Celtics. The Grizzlies carried an 8-point lead through the 5-minute mark in the 4th quarter, but crumbled near the end and allowed this game to reach overtime. Fortunately, this one ended with a win.

In past games, Memphis hasn’t been so lucky. Take the Grizzlies’ last game against OKC for example. The Grizzlies maintained a lead throughout the entire game and held a 10-point advantage as they entered the 4th quarter. Somehow, they squandered this, with the game resulting in a 6-point loss against a bad Thunder team.

The Grizzlies will hope that this doesn’t happen in their next meeting. Now that they know what to expect from this Thunder team, Memphis should be better prepared for a close-out.

Even though they gave up a late lead against the Celtics, we saw them finish off a suffering Boston team in overtime. Hopefully, their prowess late in the game will be a sign of things to come.

Regardless of whether or not the Grizz have gotten things together since the last time they faced off against the Thunder, they’ll look to work on closing out games if they want a shot at making the playoffs via play-in tournament.