Memphis Grizzlies show immaturity in blown lead at New York Knicks
The Memphis Grizzlies showed their immaturity in a preventable blown victory
This blown lead seemed like it was coming. When the Grizzlies held a late 12-point lead, you could just feel in the air that something bad was coming. So, even though it was devastating, it didn’t come as a surprise when the Grizz crumbled at the end of regulation and then let New York stomp all over them in overtime.
This seems to be a repeating pattern, as this exact same thing happened against a decimated Oklahoma City Thunder team just under a month ago. But why does this keep happening?
Well, as mentioned earlier, the Grizzlies are the 2nd-youngest team in the NBA. Despite the fact that they have had a great season and have more potential than any other squad, there is some baggage attached to an average age of 23.7 years.
We saw that baggage in Friday night’s game against the Knicks when the team couldn’t hold onto a comfortable lead. It was obvious in the way that the team would respond to a big shot. They wouldn’t.
Instead of collecting themselves and running a smart play, the Grizzlies would waste 20 seconds and then frantically pass the ball around before hoisting up a really bad shot. At times, Taylor Jenkins reverted to the “give Ja Morant the ball and hope he gets fouled in the paint” offense, which, for the record, never works.
Most importantly though, this team missed so many free throws at the end of a game. If you look at the numbers, this Grizzlies team could have easily won by double-digits if they had shot at their season average. More specifically though, they could have closed out the game on multiple occasions if they could go 2-2 from the line.
Instead, they’d leave the door open for the Knicks, and Julius Randle and RJ Barrett would happily walk right through.
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Even having said all of this, the Grizzlies will be happy to have finished their road trip with a 3-0 record. If they’re able to put this ugly loss behind them, the future is bright for this team in 2021.