The Grizzlies lost to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden tonight. The 120-133 scoreline does not reflect the blowout this game was once threatening to be.
The Knicks were ahead by over 28 points and dominated this game from the start. That was mainly due to the reckless turnovers from Ja Morant and the team that cost them several points on transition.
The Grizzlies managed to cut it to 13 majorly after the Knicks benched their starters in the fourth quarter. Following the game, Ja Morant spoke to the media and took some accountability for his inefficient performance tonight.
“It hurt me a lot, coming in at halftime and realizing how many turnovers I have. Obviously, some of them, making a better pass while delivering the ball. Some of them were [unexplainable],” said Morant.
“Others were just driving in too much into no man’s land. So I just have to be better when the defense collapses to kick it to my teammates. Once we were able to pretty much start taking care of the ball and we get our defense set, then we started rallying back, so you see how much of an impact that has.”
In the previous game, the media was questioning Morant on why he’s not driving in and finishing at the rim more. This game pretty shows why that would be a problem, considering the injury concerns that Ja Morant has.
“Coach said they had 14 or 15 more shots than us at the half when we came in. It’s tough to win that way,” Morant further revealed
Ja Morant had eight of the Grizzlies’ 22 turnovers in the game. He finished the game with 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 10 assists, while shooting 4-of-14 from the field and 2-of-6 from the three-point line.
The Grizzlies have currently only won one of their last seven games (4-8 for the season), and there is visibly growing frustration in the franchise. It will be interesting to see if Morant turns it around with the Grizzlies or eventually demands a trade.
There have been rumors and predictions that seem to indicate it is an eventuality that Morant and the Grizzlies will eventually part ways. Now it is a matter of whether Morant asks for a trade or the front office takes an offer from another team for him if they initiate the hypothetical move.
The Grizzlies face the Celtics tomorrow on the second night of a back-to-back. Let’s see if the Grizzlies are able to find any rhythm tomorrow night.
