The Memphis Grizzlies live and die with the flow of the game

The Memphis Grizzlies took their second straight loss in their first-round series against the Utah Jazz. Their quest to become one of the only teams to take down a 1st-seeded team in the first round was set back once again.

But Saturday night’s loss wasn’t one for the Grizz to hang their head over. In fact, before the officials decided to call every breath on both teams, Memphis was beginning to mount a comeback.

After trailing for the entire game, the Grizzlies actually took the lead with just under four and a half minutes left in regulation. Then the whistles starting to blow.

And while it’s hard to say that the whistles favored any specific team, the Grizzlies play physically, so a more frequent whistle will always result in a worse performance from Memphis. It’s the unfortunate truth.

And that’s exactly what happened.

The Memphis Grizzlies’ lead disappeared as the officials began to blow the whistle

When the Grizzlies took the lead, they capitalized on a game that had flow. There were very few fouls called, resulting in a Grizzlies team that was gelling better than they had at any point in the season.

But the whistles were blowing in the final few minutes. After the Grizz took the lead with just under four and a half minutes remaining in the game, officials called seven fouls, five of which went against Memphis.

The foul rate went up from .75, which it had hovered around all game, to 1.75, increasing drastically at the end of a playoff game.

This number is worrisome for the NBA, a league that struggles to draw an audience in the playoffs, especially when compared to college basketball. Here’s the primary difference.

College basketball thrives off of upsets. In each game, the better team on that day will win, even if they weren’t the better team all season wrong. The NBA doesn’t want that. The NBA wants teams with the biggest markets to win and they make that abundantly clear with the way playoff games are officiated.

But that’s the exact reason why the NBA is losing viewers. The early rounds of the playoffs just aren’t interesting anymore.

Unfortunately, the Memphis Grizzlies are the league’s latest victim. The series isn’t over, but it’ll be an uphill battle if the Grizz want to make history and beat a 1-seed.