The Memphis Grizzlies could play themselves into a 6 seed in the West

Rewind a few months and in the eyes of most NBA fans, the Memphis Grizzlies don’t stand much of a chance at making the NBA Playoffs. A 2019-20 squad in full health couldn’t manage to achieve a winning record, so how could a team without Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow improve upon their record last year?

Even their star point guard Ja Morant was out for a while earlier in the season after a scary injury in the team’s third game of the season.

And for a while, a losing record seemed inevitable. After Morant was injured, the Grizz would lose three of their next four games. It appeared that this young team was going to go down a similar road as they had a year ago.

Unexpected players stepped up for the Memphis Grizzlies, creating a path to the playoffs

Bizarrely, the Memphis Grizzlies would finish out their time without Ja Morant with a 3-game winning streak. This would continue into Ja Morant’s return when the team would eventually win seven games in a row, a number that still stands as their longest streak of the year.

The streak was vital to their results this year, and despite a 4-game skid after this winning streak, they were still alive in the playoff race. Things could have very easily gone differently during that time, leading to the Grizzlies being on the outside looking in.

Since then, Memphis has managed to win a game or two for every loss the team records. You rarely see a team float around .500 as consistently as the Grizzlies team. But they may have turned a corner at the right time.