Following their loss to the New York Knicks on Veterans Day, the Grizzlies fell to 4-8 on the season, including losing six of their last seven games. A major concern in their performance against the Knicks was the 22 turnovers the team committed, even though they shot a better percentage than their opponent and tied the rebounding battle.
It was essentially a repeat of their last performance in New York, when they allowed 36 points off their 26 turnovers in a 37-point loss in January last season. This time around, the Knicks capitalized on their 22 turnovers to score 33 points in a 13-point victory over the Grizzlies. Memphis ranks around the middle of the pack in turnovers per game (17th), but has surrendered more in its big games.
Memphis has to clean up their turnovers to beat good teams
All eight of the Grizzlies' losses have come against teams with a .500 and above record. Their six losses in their last seven-game stretch have all come against such teams, including losing the turnover battler in four of the six losses.
Ja Morant, specifically, has been struggling, averaging the most turnovers per game in his career with 4.0. Five of his 11 games played this season have seen him turn the ball over at least five times, which is uncharacteristic of him. In his postgame interview after the Knicks game, he said that he needs to be better when the opposing defense collapses.
The Grizzlies remain shorthanded with Zach Edey, Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr., and Brandon Clarke, so hurting themselves even more in a category that they can control can't happen if they want to turn around this slow start. Morant and the team are committing to the first steps of acknowledging it; now they need to make strides in cleaning it up.
The Grizzlies have to leverage every advantage they can to achieve success while they wait to become whole. The good news is that they have only had six of their 12 games with more turnovers than their opponents. The bad news is that four of those six games have come in their last five games, in which they have a 1-4 record in.