Insider Insights: Grizzlies Finish ‘23-24 Season 27-55 After Loss Against Nuggets

The Grizzlies rolled out the same 8-man crew from Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers to begin their final game of the season against the Denver Nuggets. The starting five consisted of the same group that had started three of the previous five games in Scotty Pippen Jr., Jordan Goodwin, GG Jackson, Jake LaRavia, and Trey Jemison.

After falling behind 7-2 to start, Taylor Jenkins called a timeout which ignited a 7-2 Grizzlies run to tie the game at 9. The teams played a tight game for the rest of the first quarter ending with the Denver Nuggets leading 29-26. The Grizzlies then took their first lead of the game on a 4-0 run to begin the second quarter. However, the Nuggets retook the lead moments later and led by as many as 13 points on their way to a 66-54 halftime lead.

The Nuggets began the second half quickly extending their lead to over 20 points and kept up the pace for the rest of the third quarter, leading 94-75 to enter the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was much the same as the Grizzlies concluded their season with 126-111 loss. GG Jackson II ended the season with back-to-back games over 30 points with 44 points and 12 rebounds and Jake LaRavia ended with three straight games of scoring over 25 points with 29 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Now for the main takeaway:

Turning a Negative into a Positive

The Memphis Grizzlies can finally put to rest the most disappointing season in the GrzNxtGen era. Beginning with the 25-game suspension given to Ja Morant to begin the season, then Steven Adams being ruled out for the season three days before the first game, followed by the various injuries to nearly everyone on the opening night roster and all of the added players throughout, this season could be remembered as a transition year.

Due to the original circumstance of the Ja Morant suspension and Brandon Clarke’s Achilles injury, the Grizzlies were probably far off from being in true contention to start anyway. However, a lot of the questions the team had coming into the season were answered or are on track to being answered due to the roller coaster ride the season became.

The question of which young wings would emerge from the myriad of draft picks made in the last three offseasons was answered to a surprise by Vince Williams Jr. and quicker than originally thought by GG Jackson II. The question of who would emerge to replace the Tyus Jones backup point guard role was answered by the plethora of players that were given ball-handling duties throughout the season and the emergence of Scotty Pippen Jr. after being signed to a two-way contract in January.

Now, with the trades of Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman the Grizzlies have the resources at their disposal to acquire their center of the future to go with the current core that is ready to compete for a championship when fully healthy. With the upcoming lottery pick, trade assets, and mid-level exception to go along with the many available centers in the draft and free agency, the Grizzlies are primed to get that answer this summer to be ready to begin the 2024-25 season ready to roll.

Start/Stop/Continue

START getting ready to scout the NBA Draft Combine for their upcoming lottery pick. The Grizzlies haven’t ended the season with an upcoming lottery pick (their 2020 lottery pick was traded to the Boston Celtics beforehand) since the conclusion of the 2018-19 season when they drafted Ja Morant with the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

Coming Up

The Memphis Grizzlies turn their attention to the NBA Draft Lottery which will be held on Sunday, May 12th at 7 PM CST. The Grizzlies ended the season with the seventh-best odds of getting the number one draft pick.

Final Quote

“We finished the season pretty strong competing in a lot of these games that people didn’t think we had a chance. There was a lot of opportunities for us young guys.” – Scotty Pippen Jr.