Grizzlies interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff calls out their young players after an embarrassing loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Ronald Tillery/The Commercial Appeal
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As the regular season winds down, and with every timeout due to frustration and disappointment, conventional wisdom suggests that Grizzlies interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff is performing in real time what the franchise will do this offseason.
Bickerstaff is searching in games, and the Grizzlies' player development exercise appears to require the front office to perform a major mining expedition this summer.
The Grizzlies finished off a three-game road trip Thursday night with a beyond-embarrassing 140-79 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Memphis became only the sixth team in NBA history to lose a regular-season game by 60 or more points. The loss accounted for the largest margin of defeat in franchise history, trumping a November 2015 50-point defeat to the Golden State Warriors.
The Grizzlies had never allowed so many points.
“One thing when you’ve got a bunch of young guys is they don’t understand what it takes to survive in this league,” Bickerstaff said. “If you want to make it there’s a matter of bounce-back, a matter of pride, a matter of mental toughness that you have to show on every given night and every opportunity you get. What happened tonight… there’s no defending the way we played.
“You believe because there’s opportunities you can get out there, do whatever you want and it’s my turn to play. Everything in this league is hard earned. If you’re not willing to make that sacrifice then you shouldn’t be in this league. If you can’t prove to people that that’s what you’re about then you won’t be in this league.”
Memphis began the game in the Spectrum Center much as it did the night before when it trailed by 35 points before suffering a lopsided loss.
Bickerstaff’s expectation was to see professional pride and spirit from the Grizzlies’ young players looking to make a good final impression on the season. But he was sorely mistaken, and that became evident just eight minutes into the game when the Grizzlies fell behind 24-6 and looked inept in all facets of the game.
One of Bickerstaff’s early timeout messages centered on basically challenging his players’ collective manhood: This supposed bounce-back game quickly shifted from a focus on Xs and Os and turned into demand to show pride, heart and a desire to not be embarrassed.
Yet an early 10-poiont deficit swelled to 26 and reached 55 points in the third period.
A disinterested Memphis squad trailed 112-57 entering the fourth quarter, and fell behind by as many as 65 points.
The Grizzlies began the game by missing 7 of their first 8 shots and committing three turnovers. On the defensive end, they had no answers for Hornets guard Kemba Walker deft shooting and play-making.
Walker put on a scoring exhibition for a Hornets crowd that can only look forward to the NBA draft lottery instead of a playoff berth. Walker’s game-high 46 points was filled with step-back jump shots and pull-up 3-pointers in one-on-one play. He converted 13 of 18 shots, including 10 3-pointers, and finished perfect from the free throw line on 10 attempts.
Walker scored 17 points in the first quarter to single handedly outscore the Grizzlies, who combined for 14.
“It’s crazy. You’re just in a zone,” Walker said. “It just feels like everything you throw up is just going to go in and tonight was just like that… I knew I could get my shots. All the ones I took were pretty open.”
Simply put, Walker owned the playground with constant cheers coming from the crowd. The Grizzlies only heard jeers — some from their bench because of a lack of effort, energy and execution.
Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans returned after missing the previous two games for rest. But his 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting were hardly enough to keep his team competitive. He lamented the Hornets having so much fun at their expense.
“They were out there just laughing,” Evans said. “It was embarrassing. The whole thing.”
Memphis lost its third straight and 22nd in the past 23 outings. The organization sat center Marc Gasol against the Hornets on the second night of a back-to-back, a maintenance program that began following the All-Star break.
Forward Chandler Parsons continued his season-long maintenance program of not playing in back-to-back games.
The Grizzlies’ strategy of resting key players and showcasing their young talent in an injury-riddled season is geared toward possibly getting the league’s top overall draft pick in June.
However, Hornets coach Steve Clifford arguably put it best when justifying not totally going young after falling out of playoff contention.
“With younger players, you don't just throw guys in there just to watch them. It's not fair for them, and it's not fair for other guys on the floor,” Clifford said. “The team has to be organized.”
Bickerstaff nor Gasol were in the locker room when it opened for media after the game. Perhaps that was a good thing because several Grizzlies players didn't appear to take the loss hard given the amount of laughter and joking between them.
“Every game for these guys and for all of us is an audition. It’s a matter of being able to prove that you belong,” Bickerstaff said. “To me, the end results and the scores, that stuff is going to be what it is. But every team in the NBA is going to go back and they’re going to watch these films. They’re going to key in on each individual and see in tough situations, what did they do? There’s two options, you fight or you run. And tonight we ran from the fight.”
Wrong side of history
Here is the list of regular-season games in NBA history that ended with a margin of 60 points or more:
December 25, 1960 - Syracuse Nationals won 162–100 vs. New York Knicks
March 19, 1972 – Los Angeles Lakers won 162–99 vs. Golden State Warriors
November 2, 1991 – Golden State Warriors won 153–91 vs. Sacramento Kings
December 17, 1991 – Cleveland Cavaliers won 148–80 vs. Miami Heat
February 27, 1998 – Indiana Pacers won 124–59 vs. Portland Trail Blazers
March 23, 2018 – Charlotte Hornets won 140-79 vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Veteran guard Tyreke Evans tried to explain how the Grizzlies became the sixth team in NBA history to lose a game by 60 or more points. Ronald Tillery/The Commercial Appeal