Hustle fall short in Kenneth Lofton Jr.’s homecoming.

The Memphis Hustle were officially back Thursday evening after a five-day break as they took on the Texas Legends, the same team they battled the last time they touched the hardwood. The Memphis squad was pleasantly graced with Hustle break-outs Kenneth Lofton Jr. and Jacob Gilyard III, who have currently been supplying the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies with a boost off the bench. Somehow, though, it still wasn’t enough for the squad down in Southaven to come away victorious as they fell short, 97-101, to one of the bottom teams in the G League this season. After tonight’s unfortunate loss, the Hustle are now 4-8 and have claimed a worse record than the Legends, a feat that is quite un-legendary as they fall to the bottom of the South Conference and claim the fourth-worst record in the league.

The Legends also came into Thursday’s battle off of a five-day-cation with the Hustle serving as their last opponent as well, only difference being that this time they came out victorious. Texas’ charge was led by former Tar Heel phenom, Justin Jackson, who pushed the pace with 21 points and 7 boards along with Taze Moore donating another 19 and 7 boards off the bench. Texas never truly ran off with this game, they just played incrementally better throughout the entirety of it and managed to play at their own pace, which prevented the Hustle from ever finding their true groove on the night. Texas looked more comfortable on the floor all evening despite a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Hustle that ultimately fell short.

On the other hand, though, it almost appears as if the Hustle played better on the stat sheet. They made more threes, made more field goals, shot a better field goal percentage, had more assists, doubled the number of fast break points, and even had more points in the paint. Kenneth Lofton Jr. still managed to put up a grown man’s performance with 25 points and 14 rebounds; G.G. Jackson contributed 13 points; and David Johnson tacked on 19 points coming off the bench. There were some solid solo performances that ultimately couldn’t mesh into a proficient enough team performance, a recurring theme.

This is something I have harped about all season with this Hustle squad, though; they look so good individually, yet they can never figure it out as a squad. I know some of these guys are young, some are new additions, and some bounce back and forth between here and the NBA, and while I do find all three of those reasons to be legitimate excuses, I also hope the team can collectively find a more effective way of coming together as a unit. I still have an immense amount of faith in this squad and with all things that grown strong, there will always be growing pains, and right now we are seeing that with this team.

The Hustle are now within a more scarce period of ball as they are entering another break, this one only lasting three days, and they will take on the the Birmingham Squadron yet again for the second time this season. The matchup will be live from Birmingham, Alabama, at 7:00 p.m., streaming live on gleague.nba.com, as the Hustle will look to repeat history and move to 2-0 versus the Squadron this season. Following the matchup versus Birmingham, the Hustle will begin a four-day break.