With two games in the books this week, the OKC Thunder have made up some ground on fellow tankers the Houston Rockets. The second loss came on the front side of a back-to-back set that finishes in Memphis.
OKC didn’t go quietly into the night building a 15 point lead but wasn’t able to hang on with several players out due to the flu or injury.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a season-best 39 points but the one bucket he wanted rimmed out allowing the Rockets to win for the second time in three days versus OKC.
When the draft lottery rolls around this spring these two matches could be something Thunder Nation looks back upon as a fortunate turn of events since the Rockets won the season series three games to one.
The Thunder are right back in action this evening sporting a losing streak of seven games in a row. The Thunder are also within striking distance of one of the coveted bottom three lottery seeds. They are a half-game out of the 27th seed, a game up on the 26th seed, and two losses away from the Magic and Pistons who sit in the 29th and 30th positions.
OKC Thunder face Grizzlies minus Ja Morant
Through his first 18 games, Ja Morant was having an incredible season. Memphis became the early season NBA League Pass darlings just because the athletic point guard was doing something special every game.
Against the Hawks, on November 26th he sprained his knee in what looked like a more serious injury. Fortunately, he’ll only be lost for a couple of weeks but his absence meant Taylor Jenkins had some serious adjustments to make.
The Grizzlies were the worst defensive team to that point and in truth resembled the Wizards of recent seasons — score tons of points and defend no one.
Similarly to when Gilgeous-Alexander was out, it means others must step up to deliver the missing production. In some ways, it makes the team more difficult to defend because it’s less obvious where the offense is going to come from.
For Memphis, it’s not as difficult of a proposition (like what the Thunder experience) with the trio of Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, and Dillon Brooks all being talented offensive players. Rather, it’s the defense where Memphis made the biggest adjustments.
It’s helped them win the two games Morant has missed (albeit the Raptors were missing three starters) against Sacramento and Toronto. Before those matches, Memphis was scoring 110 points and allowing 114 per game.
Versus the Kings, they maintained their offense (128-101) while they needed the defense against Toronto (98-91) as the Raptors held them to 38.7 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from deep.
The latter is more akin to what the Thunder will attempt to do but be forewarned this version of the Grizzlies has upped their defensive intensity. Let’s dive deeper into this OKC Thunder – Memphis Grizzlies matchup…