The Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in a thrilling overtime road victory, giving them a chance to win the wild-card spot to the Knockout Stage of the NBA Cup. Memphis entered this season with a 1-7 record in its first eight NBA Cup games since its inception in 2023, and made it a 1-8 record in its first nine after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on Halloween night.
That game changed the trajectory of their season, as it was the night Ja Morant's frustration with the coaching staff blew up and led to a one-game suspension. Beginning that night, the Grizzlies lost nine of their next 10 games, but their only win in that stretch came in an NBA Cup game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Now, they have a 2-1 record with their final Group Stage game coming against the Los Angeles Clippers. With the Lakers already clinching their group and the Clippers tied with the same record as the Grizzlies in Cup games, Memphis finds itself in a position it hasn't been in before.
Can the NBA Cup really spark a Grizzlies turnaround?
There are three West groups, with the winner of each group and one wild card spot available. The tiebreaker for the wild card spot is determined by the team with the highest point differential. That means the Grizzlies must defeat the Clippers to finish 3-1, and will likely need help depending on how much they win by.
The Grizzlies have a current point differential of +9, which will go up with a win. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns are 3-0 with a matchup on the same night to determine the West Group A winner. The loser will challenge the winner of the Grizzlies-Clippers matchup for the wild-card spot.
The Grizzlies enter their final group game with a point differential of +9 because their overtime point differential of +5 against the Pelicans doesn't count toward the tiebreaker. The Thunder and Suns have point differentials of 71 and 35, respectively. Due to this, the Grizzlies will need not only to win, but to win by as much as they can and hope the Thunder beats the Suns by enough to cover the 26-point differential gap between the two teams.
Regardless of what transpires, the Grizzlies have a chance to compete to advance in the NBA Cup, and for a team with a 7-12 record, it could provide a good opportunity for a turnaround. The last four NBA Cup championship game participants all made the NBA Playoffs, with the losers making a deep run in the playoffs.
Their first NBA Cup game this season spearheaded their lowest point of the season, which took them a while to snap out of. However, a recent 3-1 stretch in their last four games has them poised to break through and win something that could signal their official turning point of the regular season.