The Grizzlies lost 100-95 to the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night in a game that, in broad strokes, was similar to Sunday’s 90-82 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers: A competitive game against a top team in which the Grizzlies kept it close down the stretch but could never completely close the gap.
In the details, however, it was drastically different. Against the Lakers, the Grizzlies’ pestering perimeter defense was in rare form, forcing 27 Laker turnovers off of 18 steals and using this to rack up 31 fast-break points. But, in the halfcourt, against the Lakers dual seven-footers, the Grizzlies were completely lost, getting much of their meager production off newbie Marreese Speights’ instant-trigger mid-range jumper.
Against the Thunder, the Grizzlies could only get their helter-skelter defense-into-offense game going in spurts, registering a mere six steals and 10 fast-break points. And yet they were still able to score 95 points on 46% shooting with a more functional halfcourt offense. Marc Gasol got back into an offensive groove (20 points on 8-16 shooting) after his 0-9 shooting against the Lakers. The team shot decently from three-point range (5-12, including 3-3 from O.J. Mayo). Mike Conley was very effective (10 assists to one turnover). And Dante Cunningham proved more useful (5-7 shooting, four offensive rebounds) against a team that didn’t force him to guard a post scorer.
Unfortunately, the details of this good — if ultimately disappointing for the home team — game are secondary to what feels like a growing fan anxiety over recent struggles — the struggles of the team as a whole and the struggles of Rudy Gay in particular. So rather than go through the typical, detailed post-game report, let’s take a broader look at those two issues:
The Team: Let’s unpack this 3-6 start a little bit. Five of the team’s six losses have come against elite teams (Spurs with Ginobili, Bulls, Lakers, Thunder twice). The Grizzlies are 1-4 on the road but 2-2 at home, with two close losses to the Thunder (the best team in the West) and blowout wins over the middling-to-bad Kings and Rockets.
