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

The Memphis Grizzlies have continued to over-perform on the court

Once again, injuries started to pile up for Memphis, with Winslow back out of the lineup, De’Anthony Melton missing time, and Brandon Clarke sitting with a nagging injury. The Grizzlies would continue to win though. They met their second-longest winning streak of the year with four in a row, which leads us right up to this moment in time.

Even though they’ve only won six of their last nine games, this is the most important Grizzlies stretch of basketball. In wins during that stretch, Memphis has outscored opponents by an average margin of over 13 points, each of these wins being in double digits. Meanwhile, the losses during that stretch have been close with the scoring margin being just 5 points.

The Grizzlies are winning big and losing as a result of not being able to close out close games. That said, closing out games is an area that this team needs to patch up before the end of the season. If they had turned the table on each of their close losses, the narrative could be different right now.

That said, the Grizzlies will not complain about where they have themselves positioned. If this was a normal year, they’d find themselves in a spot that would get them into the playoffs. Due to a shortened season and an uneven amount of games played for each team, they’ll likely find themselves competing in the NBA’s Western Conference play-in tournament.

Or at least that’s what they’re projected to do. Here’s why they could play themselves out of it.