The Memphis Grizzlies were embarrassed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, losing 131-80 at Paycom Center. Another early postseason exit is on the cards for the Grizzlies, and Zach Lowe called them out on The Zach Lowe Show for failing to back up all their talk on the court over the years.
“What are we doing here?” Lowe asked. “Because his team has talked a lot of s***, and they’re going to get rocked in this series. And we’re going to be four years into this or whatever, and they’re going to have won one playoff series.”
Lowe didn’t care that the Grizzlies played this game on Sunday afternoon after beating the Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In Tournament on Friday night. He made it clear they only have themselves to blame for that, as they collapsed in the second half of the season.
“They talk s*** to everybody,” Lowe added. “So, you know what? Just back it up.”
The Grizzlies don’t talk trash publicly as often as they once did, but they still appear to chirp a lot during games. Altercations are somewhat commonplace when they’re playing, and a lot of that is down to the players running their mouths. Now, no one makes too much of a fuss about that when you’re winning when it matters most, but they haven’t, for one reason or another.
The Grizzlies emerged as a threat when they were the second seed in the West in the 2021-22 season with a 56-26 record. They dispatched the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games in the first round but were then beaten in six by the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Semifinals. Ja Morant had suffered an injury in Game 3 against the Warriors, and you wondered if that series would have panned out differently with him.
The Grizzlies bounced back from that disappointment by again being the second seed in the West in 2022-23, this time with a 51-31 record. They faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, and that series is remembered for all the wrong reasons if you’re the Grizzlies.
Dillon Brooks famously poked the bear that was LeBron James and ended up paying the price. The Grizzlies were knocked out in six games, and they lost Game 6 by 40 points.
Following that embarrassing exit for which they were mocked relentlessly, Morant stated he and the Grizzlies would do less trash-talking moving forward. Earlier in the season, Morant had stated they were “fine in the West,” and all that talking had backfired.
The following offseason would see Morant flash a gun on Instagram Live for the second time in 2023, and that earned him a 25-game suspension at the start of the 2023-24 season. He’d play just nine games before a shoulder injury ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.
The Grizzlies finished 13th in the West in 2023-24 with a 27-55 record, thanks to a slew of injuries. They managed to react well to that, though, with a great start to this 2024-25 season.
The Grizzlies entered the All-Star break as the second seed in the West with a 36-18 record, but fell apart once the action resumed. They ended the season as the eighth seed with a 48-34 record, and there appeared to be issues behind the scenes as well.
Head coach Taylor Jenkins was fired on March 28, with just weeks left before the playoffs, but it doesn’t look like that has had the impact that the Grizzlies would have wanted. It’s just one game, but it’s safe to say this team is no match for the Thunder.
Game 2 will be held at Paycom Center on Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET, and it would surprise no one if that ends up being a blowout as well. An era that promised much at one point is in real danger of ending in disappointment now.
