The Memphis Grizzlies lost a basketball game on Monday night to the Houston Rockets. It was the third time in three such contests against Jalen Green and Houston that Ja Morant and Memphis came up short. The games looked different - Jaren Jackson Jr. didn’t play in the first one. Ja and Desmond Bane were coming off of injury in another. But in all three showdowns with the Western Conference’s 2nd seed the result has been the same.
Defeat.
A game can have a close final score and not actually be as close as those numbers would suggest. And 75% of the way through their regular season series, to the eyes of this writer, at the moment the Houston Rockets are clearly the better team when compared to the Memphis Grizzlies.
(Hopes that you didn’t stop reading the newsletter there forever).
This of course doesn’t have to stay this way. Continuity will go a long way. Ja, Des, and Jaren logging more and more time together will make those around them better. While Memphis has indeed lost three straight to Houston, they haven’t been blown out when those three play.
And there’s the matter of the greater cavalry coming. Vince Williams Jr. takes pride in physicality and doing what is necessary for the Grizzlies to succeed - the “dirty work”. GG Jackson is a 6'9" 230-ish pound physical specimen who all NBA teams will have to contend with, not just the Rockets. No disrespect to the Jake LaRavias and Scotty Pippen Jr.s of the world, but there simply isn’t that level of production from them compared to what’s been seen from Williams Jr. and GG.
Still - over the last three games against Houston the team is struggling. Only Jaren Jackson Jr. and Luke Kennard have a positive net rating against the Rockets this season. Amen Thompson is a force of nature and is one of the few players in the NBA that can stay in front of Ja Morant as a defender. Alperen Sengun is a legitimate matchup concern, and even in a game where the Grizzlies are able to limit him other Rockets like Jalen Green are capable of going off.
It’s enough to make you question whether Memphis as constructed - even with GG and Vince - can knock off these Rockets in a seven game series. They bring a level of physicality and tenacity that the Grizzlies seem to struggle with matching.
Maybe it’s just a small part of the larger issue. Memphis has played much better this season against teams with losing records. The Grizzlies are only 12-12 against the Western Conference (13-3 against the Eastern Conference) and are 3-4 against teams in their own division.
Of all the NBA teams that currently are in the playoff picture - the top-6 in both the Eastern and Western Conference - only one has a losing record against their own division.
The Memphis Grizzlies. The Rockets are a major reason why.
That can be a different story if Memphis knocks off the Spurs the next couple games. But there’s no denying that while fear may be a strong word - the Grizzlies have a Houston problem.
And it may be bigger than that.
