The Grizzlies have been very popular recently and have become the focus of attention from the outside world, especially the team's core Morant "There is no opponent in the West". However, their recent performance has failed to match the clamor. They lost to the Warriors without Curry and Wiggins in the year-end battle. This time they faced the Suns without Booker at home and suffered another complete defeat. They lost to their opponents 108-125 and suffered a 2-game losing streak.
Booker, Payne and Shamet were all absent from the Suns in this game, and their strength was also somewhat damaged. The two teams fell into a tug-of-war in the first quarter, and the Suns only led by 1 point; but in the second quarter, the Suns regained their touch, scoring 42 points in a single quarter, establishing a 16-point lead. In the second half, the Suns completely took the initiative on the court and maintained a double-digit lead. At one point, the point difference widened to 25 points. The game also lost suspense early. In the end, the Suns won a 17-point victory.
Although the Suns lacked 3 rotation players in this game, other players stepped up this time. As many as 8 people in the team scored in double figures. The players on the bench collectively experienced an explosion, which also left the Grizzlies helpless. Washington on the bench scored a team-high 26 points and 8 assists, becoming a surprise player; the starting five also scored in double figures, Paul had 14 points and 6 assists, Ayton had 15 points and 10 assists, Landale had 16 points, Bridges and Craig both scored 10 points, and Okogie and Lee both scored 12 points. Every player can make a contribution.
Compared with the Suns, the Grizzlies were collectively lost this time. Only two people in the team scored in double figures. Among them, Morant scored 34 points and 6 assists, but his condition was not good either. He made 8 of 22 in the game, 3 of 10 three-pointers, and a plus-minus of -23. Such a performance is indeed difficult to lead the team to win the game. In addition, Bain scored 14 points, and no other player scored in double figures. Brooks made 3 of 9 and Jackson made 2 of 12. It seems that they need to focus on the game.
Now let’s look at Morant’s statement that he has no opponents in the West. It has completely become a joke. You know, in the consecutive losses to the Warriors and Suns, these two opponents were not all main players, and both had core players absent. Such opportunities were not grasped, so how dare you say such things? The Grizzlies' strength is good, but the young players in the team should keep a low profile and don't always focus on outside the game.
