Grizzlies Cut Down Time To Go From Good to Great


Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies returned from a one-game suspension determined to make a mark in the Western Conference semifinals series with the Golden State Warriors. He would sort things out in Game 4 on Monday night. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies’ stamp was largely faulty as he threw 3-pointers from behind the rim and dribbled from his foot.

Brooks is (typically) one of the best players on one of the NBA’s most exciting youth teams, but there’s no substitute for end-of-season experience. The Grizzlies are earning some money and they will pay for it in the future, but the future is not now. His opponents, who passed the championship test, are sure of this.

On Monday, the Grizzlies took every opportunity in San Francisco for a best of seven series in at least two games. But they were 3 points behind when Brooks turned the attention to a teammate, Jaren Jackson Jr., who had plenty of time to show patience—about 15 seconds into the game. Instead, Jackson hit a three-pointer with three defenders around him. Golden State’s Draymond Green had the ball and Jackson missed.

“We rushed a few games out there,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said after his team’s 101-98 defeat. We need to learn from this and be better for the next game.”

Ahead of Game 5 on Wednesday, the Grizzlies face another new challenge: the possibility of elimination. They are down 3-1 in the series and their situation Ja MorantIt’s unclear who missed Monday’s defeat with right knee pain. It looks bleak for them.

Against a smaller opponent, the Grizzlies perhaps could have overcome their youthful enthusiasm more easily – now with Morant’s absence. Warriors no less competitors. They proved it in Game 4, even after missed his first 15 3-pointersand even after only 38 points in the first half, or even after 12 points behind.

“Forget it,” Stephen Curry said, remembering Green’s heated exchange with Green after Jackson’s last-minute smash of Jackson’s shot. “’This is what you’re going to do.’ something like. Any opportunity at this end of the field, especially at this stage, where we have to appreciate his greatness, that’s the point.”

Not so long ago, there was an expectation that the series would present the best of 21st century basketball. There were two teams here that could fill their box points with offensive fireworks.

Beyond that, the series seemed like it had the potential to take shape as a delightfully entertaining intergenerational conflict. The Grizzlies behind Morant were the new kids on the block, and their contestants were ahead of schedule. Of course, Golden State had regained their core after two injury-filled seasons.

So the series had to appeal to an aesthetic filled with soaring dunks, deep threes, and mutual respect. Instead, over the course of four games, there have been more Royal Rumbles than Alvin Ailey. green ejected for committing a flagrant foul In Game 1, Golden State’s Gary Payton II broke his elbow after hitting Brooks in the head with a stick as Payton was going up for the layup in Game 2. And after limping off the field in Game 3, Morant took to social media to accuse Golden State’s Jordan Poole of making his own dirty game.

About an hour before Game 4 kicked off, a broken streak got even weirder when Golden State announced that Steve Kerr would no longer be able to coach because he fell within the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocols. Instead, one of his assistants, Mike Brown, would make the decisions. The weirdest part? Earlier in the day, the Sacramento Kings Chose Brown as new head coach. (He will stay with Golden State throughout the postseason.)

Kerr’s absence added to the show’s worn-out feel. Payton may be gone for the rest of the season. Morant was sitting behind the row of Grizzlies in a sweatshirt. And now Kerr had to watch the game from home as part of a television audience that settled into an evening of corneal wrenching theater.

Golden State has a well-deserved reputation for playing with a quality basketball brand. But this is a team that could also gain an ugly, small presence at the end of the season.

“We’ve been here before and we know how to handle matches like this,” said Curry.

Without Morant, Memphis wanted to destroy him. After giving limited minutes in recent weeks, Steven Adams started at center and was solid, finishing with 10 points and 15 rebounds. The problem was everyone. Brooks shot 5 of the 19 from the field. Kyle Anderson went 7/7 from the free throw line. And Jackson missed all seven of his three-pointers.

“It’s hard when that happens,” he said. “I wanted more of myself.”

The question is whether Memphis has more to offer. It looks like what these young Grizzlies need is a post-season binge session – a quick infusion of the secrets to winning high-stakes games. They’ve won a lot during the regular season and ended up with the second-best record in the NBA. But when every game gets emotional, critical foul calls don’t go your way, when defense makes easy shots hard and hard shots impossible to win, when free throws don’t feel so free? It can take years to learn all of these, and most gamers never do. The Grizzlies may have to try to play without the best player they have.

Memphis did not disclose the specific nature of Morant’s injury, but he is also not immune to knee issues. In November, he sprained his left knee at the fiery start of the regular season, then broke into the league’s health and safety protocols and missed 12 games. HE IS missed a few more games Near the end of the regular season with knee pain.

Still, Adams said the team was able to make fixes for Game 5, with the fixes being both “simple” and “reassuring.” And what were they?

“I can’t divulge this information, man,” he said. “Keep it secret. But it’s nothing complicated. It’s not something we can’t do. Put it like that.”

Memphis still has time to figure this out. But not much, especially against Golden State.



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