The Memphis Grizzlies shocked the world on Friday when they took down the Golden State Warriors in the NBA’s play-in tournament. In the game, they showed a ton of heart, beating one of the best franchises in the league in an emotional game.
Many fans and experts believed that this would lead to the team being emotionally and physically drained, lowering their chances against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, if they even had a shot, to begin with.
But the Grizzlies were unfazed.
The Memphis Grizzlies continued to shock the NBA with an away win against the Utah Jazz
Nobody expected the Grizzlies to win in their play-in game against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have Stephen Curry. Steve Kerr is the best coach in the league. Memphis is the second-youngest team in the NBA.
The Grizzlies didn’t care. They took care of business and gained entry to the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Take the Grizzlies’ chances to win against the Golden State Warriors on Friday and cut it in half. That’s what the expectation was for them to get a win in Utah against the winningest team in the NBA in 2020-21.
It may not have been the prettiest game, but an inexperienced Grizzlies team took down a loaded Utah Jazz squad. The Grizz had great performances out of a few players, such as Ja Morant and Jonas Valanciunas. That said, nobody stepped up the same way that Dillon Brooks did on Sunday night.
Brooks looked extremely comfortable in his first NBA Playoff game, dropping 31 points. His performance was highlighted by a 3rd quarter where the Jazz could not stop the former Oregon Duck.
And outside of Donovan Mitchell’s absence, there were no caveats in this one. The Grizzlies simply played better basketball than the Jazz with stingy defense and strong offense. In fact, rather than the lopsided series’ that many NBA fans expected, the Grizzlies controlled the narrative in the first game, bringing the game to Salt Lake City.
If Memphis continues to play basketball at this level, it could be bad news for the rest of the Western Conference. If the Grizzlies pull off the impossible and win this series, they’ll face either the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Clippers, two teams that they have performed well against.
The Grizzlies weren’t expected to be here, but they don’t care. The Beale Street Bears are out for blood, and they’ll go through anyone to get there. The entire landscape of the Western Conference Playoffs could be at risk because of a young, feisty team from Memphis.
The Grizz are one of the very few franchises that have won a series as the 8th seed against a 1st seeded team. Who’s to say they can’t do it again?
For now, they’ll have to take things a game at a time though. The next matchup is on Wednesday, so get ready for another great game in this series.