Why Ja Morant, the Grizzlies were ‘disappointed’ in their win over Lamelo Ball’s Hornets

All wins are equal in the standings, but that’s not the case in most NBA locker rooms. Some games, some wins, are simply more important than others. There are off nights when things can get ugly, usually with a candidate who blows and runs. That scenario was almost flipped on the FekEx forum. Me Morant’s Memphis Grizzlies learn-how-to (29-15) was almost caught LaMelo Ball‘s Charlotte Hornets (11-29) and roughly, the Grizzlies led by Ja Morant were not satisfied with a 132-120 victory.

Taylor Jenkins suggests that the mood after the game is more a a sigh of relief rather than celebration.

“It bothered the group a lot,” Jenkins admitted. “Fortunately, we did enough in the first half and managed to survive the second half.”

As for what went wrong in what should have been a comfortable win?

“Too many free throws, too many bad plays on offense and defense.” Traffic,” Jenkins stated. “We were definitely a tale of two halves.” The team in the first half reflects what we want to be, in the second half not so much. So, great chat in the dressing room afterwards, but we have to do better. The boys were definitely disappointed with our performance in the second half.”

It’s a forgivable, but not negligible slip, all things considered. The Hornets worked to keep the score respectable, but the Grizzlies used this as a good game in many ways. For example, the lack of three-point shooting has been a problem recently. The Grizzlies are 7-5 in their last dozen games, a significant drop from their early season pace.

Memphis took nearly half of its 98 shots from beyond the arc against Charlotte.

“I think our volume has been down in recent games. We shot 47 (against the Hornets) which was not the case,” Jenkins noted. “You saw in the first half when we played with great pace and movement in the half and how we finished the half. We had some transition (threes) with Luke (Kennard) and Jaylen (Wells).”

The Grizzlies are learning not to give up on NBA draft lottery teams. Memphis needs the national team after nearly two years of injuries that disrupted chemistry. Jenkins just continues to preach the benefits as he implements the new offense scheme, even though there were complaints after the Charlotte win. The coaching staff even briefly reverted to the old NBA offensive creation.

“When we play at that speed, your vision just opens up.” You just see more driving lanes, more passing lanes,” Jenkins said. “It definitely stagnates in the second half.” We had to use some pick and rolls to make some open threes. Luckily, there were a few multi-actions, keep the motor running, drive the baseline, corner threes.”

The Grizzlies need to kick things into high gear to complete the January 2025 schedule.Memphis is battling Houston for the second seed in the Western Conference. Fortunately, the next two games are at home against two of the worst teams in the league. Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans could be a problem if he escapes the snow-covered city. The Utah Jazz are already packing instruments ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

Ja Morant and Taylor Jenkins can’t be mad at that lineup. They can only look forward to taking care of business and taking corrective action. It sounded like they were in right away, a good sign for fans who want to feel a sense of urgency from a championship-level core.