Following last night's brutal loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Grizzlies will have to wait another season to end their winning drought in the Bay Area.
The bad times are just simply piling up for the Memphis Grizzlies right now. It wasn't long ago that the team was 15-16 and just one win against the Wizards away from being a .500 team. Since then, the Grizzlies have gone just 5-16 and are now five games out of the last play-in spot.
Despite playing a great first three quarters, the Grizzlies ended up blowing a 13-point lead in the 4th quarter against the Golden State Warriors yesterday. They managed to score just five points in the last eight minutes. The late-game decision-making and rotations also resemble the ones we've seen from a Utah team receiving significant backlash for tanking.
The Grizzlies have one more game on the road trip against the Denver Nuggets; however, the Grizzlies' failures at Chase Center deserve significant focus.
It has been almost five years since the Grizzlies won at Chase Center
The last time that the Grizzlies won a regular season game at Chase Center was all the way back on October 28, 2021, when they won 104-101. The lineups were vastly different, and the Grizzlies were just beginning their rise as one of the most promising teams in the Western Conference at that time.
Here are the starting lineups for both teams from the Grizzlies' win on October 28, 2021:
Grizzlies Starting Lineup | Warriors Starting Lineup |
|---|---|
Ja Morant | Steph Curry |
De'Anthony Melton | Jordan Poole |
Desmond Bane | Andrew Wiggins |
Jaren Jackson Jr. | Kevon Looney |
Steven Adams | Draymond Green |
What stands out is that both teams have faced significant roster turnover. However, on the flip side for the Grizzlies, it sums up how long it has been since they won at Chase Center. Dillon Brooks was still recovering from a hand fracture at the time; however, the only player in that Grizzlies lineup still on the team is Ja Morant. De'Anthony Melton also played a key role in the Warriors beating the Grizzlies yesterday.
The only Grizzlies players left from their 2021/22 team are Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, Santi Aldama, and now Kyle Anderson, who they just got back in the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade. Despite the Warriors having a very strong home-court advantage, the Grizzlies wasted a great opportunity to end their losing streak at Chase Center.
It remains to be seen what the 2026/27 NBA schedule looks like, but there is a high likelihood that the Grizzlies will have gone a full five years without a regular season win at Chase Center. It will be interesting to see what the Grizzlies' roster looks like when they finally get the Bay Area win that still eludes them.