The Memphis Grizzlies' streak of losing to teams with a .500 and above record in the Western Conference extended to 10 games after their loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Play-in Tournament on Apr 15th. The back-and-forth affair ended after a five-second inbounds violation on the Grizzlies with five seconds remaining trailing by three points.
The loss sent the Grizzlies to a do-or-die game against the winner of the Dallas Mavericks-Sacramento Kings play-in game in Memphis on April 18th. While the loss to the Warriors was deflating for a team that preferred to clinched the seventh seed, a positive takeaway came from their tightly contested battle.
Desmond is a big three-cornerstone piece
To those outside of Memphis, Desmond Bane has always flown under the radar despite being productive, efficient, and well-rounded as a player throughout his career. However, the Grizzlies organization has promoted their core as a big three with Bane being included with their All-Star duo of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
This checks out as Bane has consistently been one of the Grizzlies' best scorers, including some big moments on the game's biggest stages. In their battle against the Warriors, Morant left the game in the third quarter with an ankle sprain before returning in the fourth quarter in limited fashion.
Also, Jackson Jr. struggled against the physicality of the Warriors which limited his game to becoming a three-point specialist. While he shot 4-9 from three, Jackson Jr. finished the game with 18 points and combined with Morant to score 40 points.
Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler from the Warriors combined to score 75 points, with the Grizzlies needing another player to try to match their production. Desmond Bane came very close, after scoring 30 points to keep the Grizzlies within striking distance.
Bane has been a model of consistency when it comes to shooting the three ball and had a 5-8 effort from three-point distance against the Warriors. The three attempts he missed rattled in and out, preventing him from a perfect night.
While Bane was drafted with the last pick of the first round in the 2020 NBA draft as a three-point specialist, he has improved other aspects of his game as a three-level scorer and playmaker. He was almost certainly going to be the player with the ball in his hands to take the game-tying three before the five-second violation.
At only age 26, he has proven time and again that he is a primetime performer throughout his five-year career, and is more than enough as the third option of a big three trio.