In a heartbreaking turn of events, Taylor Jenkins found himself shouldering the blame after a last-second Memphis Grizzlies loss to the visiting New York Knicks. Despite a valiant effort from Ja Morant, Jalen Brunson now holds the season’s bragging rights having swept both meetings. The Big Apple got to see a blowout (143-106) but the FedEx Forum was in a fingernail biting frenzy until the final seconds. Unfortunately, Jenkins couldn’t help but replay a critical decision in his mind, one that may have cost the Grizzlies (38-21) a much-needed victory against a top-tier Eastern Conference opponent.
Jalen Brunson hit a floater to tie the game at 108 with exactly 2:00 on the clock and dial up the intensity in this All-Star duel. In fact, only Ja Morant and Brunson made buckets until OG Anunoby’s Brunson-assisted corner-three pointer with 5.1 seconds left. It was a crushing way to lose considering the now third-placed Grizzlies were up by two (113-111) with 14.1 seconds remaining following Morant’s successful and-1 opportunity.
However, Jenkins told Vince Williams Jr. to shade a bit further away from OG Anunoby on the last play to help stop Brunson’s inevitable drive.
“I’m going to be beating myself up on that one,” Jenkins admitted.” I made a call, (the Knicks) made a play…We’ve been playing in a lot of tight ball games.”
Though Jenkins did not have the same smile as after the overtime win over the Phoenix Suns (28-32), the coaching staff was driving home the same message following a home loss to the Knicks (39-20).
“Proud of the fight in this group,” Jenkins asserted. “That was a very high level basketball game and it will make us better.”
The Grizzlies had a great opportunity to close out the win but a failure to create a cushion when the Knicks went cold in the third quarter was crucial. Jalen Brunson was able to get a breather before taking over in the biggest moments. Jenkins just had to shrug it off knowing that most nights, those open shots fall rather than clang off the rim.
“We got great looks (versus the Knicks),” believed Jenkins. “I loved the ball movement. I thought we had great energy. It’s definitely tough when you shoot 4-for-31 in a game but I loved the looks that our guys got. We kept moving the ball, kept passing the ball, we scored in the paint. There were just a couple of plays down the stretch that we’d love to have back. Obviously, (Jalen Brunson) hit a big time bucket and had a big time kickout. We had good looks, just couldn’t convert at the end.”
Memphis hosts the San Antonio Spurs (24-33). The visitors may be without Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season but Chris Paul and DeAaron Fox are still surprisingly dangerous. Ja Morant and the Grizzlies cannot afford to overlook any NBA Play-In Tournament fodder after falling short yet again to a top-three conference team. Taylor Jenkins, maybe more than anyone else, needs the positive momentum to get this team feeling fueled up for an NBA Playoffs run.
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