The Lead: The Grizzlies suffered arguably their most disappointing loss of the season tonight. It was the first home loss not to the Thunder or Spurs, and was made worse by being to a Jazz team that’s been fading and that the Grizzlies have to pass to get back into the playoffs. A win tonight would have moved the Grizzlies ahead of the Jazz in the Western Conference standings.
Further — unlike the home losses to the Thunder, for instance — this one really felt like the Grizzlies lost rather than that they got beaten. And there were three short stretches that seemed to really kill them:
1. An 0-7 start in the first few minutes in which the Grizzlies somehow notched 5 offensive rebounds without scoring.
2. After the starters turned an 8-point deficit into a 2-point lead with strong play in the first half of the third quarter, the Grizzlies lost momentum when they started subbing in bench players. The Jazz went on a 10-2 run over a five-minute span after the Grizzlies first third-quarter substitution.
3. With the Grizzlies down 5 midway through the fourth quarter, unforced errors on consecutive fastbreak opportunities kept the Grizzlies from cutting the deficit to one: First Tony Allen got fouled in transition and missed both free throws, then Dante Cunningham bobbled an on-target lob from Mike Conley. Instead of being down one, the Griz allowed a lob dunk for Derrick Favors out of the ensuing timeout and were down 7 (83-76) with five minutes to play.
Man of the Match: Several players had decent stat lines for the Grizzlies, but nobody seemed to really put their stamp on the game. I guess I’ll give it to Mike Conley, who was the best point guard on the floor and finished with 17 points (6-11 shooting), 6 assists, 2 steals, and only 2 turnovers.
