Defensive struggles continue as the third Grizzlies opponent in as many games shot 50 percent or better overall. With a final score of 123-92, the Sacramento Kings thumped the Grizzlies at FedExForum in the last game of the year. The return of Luke Kennard and his shooting 5 of 8 from three-point range could not put the Grizzlies over the hump.
Let’s get into it.
Woof. That is the first word that comes to mind to describe how the Kings outworked Memphis on both ends of the floor. Sacramento put up a season-high 59 rebounds to the Grizzlies 34. In no universe was it acceptable for the Grizzlies to only have one offensive rebound in the entire game, but the fact that the Kings could grab 25 more rebounds than Memphis adds insult to injury. The Grizzlies also recorded just one block for the game.
Combine that with beating the Grizzlies in made threes (16 to 12), made field goals (47 to 30), and points in the paint (58 to 32), and Sacramento handed them one of their worst losses of the season.
The Kings’ bench unit outscored the Grizzlies’ bench 58 to 28, with Malik Monk scoring a game-high 27 points in 21 minutes on 4 of 5 three-point shooting and 10 of 13 overall. One player nearly outscoring the entire second unit is nasty and overshadows the return of Luke Kennard in his first game since November 17.
When head coach Taylor Jenkins was asked postgame about the defense allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent in the past three games, he had this to say:
“We’ve got to look at the trends that we’ve seen all season long. Obviously small sample size, looking more at the last two games, it’s definitely things we’ve been talking about, pick-and-roll coverages, what we can do a little bit better there, our shifting obviously, teams are really hurting us in the high quad, how we can clean that up. That’s something that we got to talk about, some of the second chance kick outs as well, pickup points, discipline there. It’s definitely something that we’re seeing a lot and obviously we’ve regressed the last couple of games.”
Emphasis mine. Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious.
It was a low-scoring night for Memphis, being held under 100 points, and their usual big three struggled offensively.
Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with a team-high 18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Three players finished with 17 points: Ja Morant had 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists; Desmond Bane closed out with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists; and Luke Kennard put up 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists on 6 of 9 overall shooting and 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.
The only other Grizzlies player to end the night in double figures was Marcus Smart with 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies will play at home again Tuesday night, January 2nd, facing off against one of the few teams with a worse record in the West, the San Antonio Spurs. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Happy New Year, Grizz Nation. I hope everyone is eating their black-eyed peas and greens because we need all the luck we can get.
