Nets lack aggressiveness in home loss to undermanned Grizzlies
Nets forward Mikal Bridges drives to the basket defended by Memphis Grizzlies guard John Konchar in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Barclays Center on Monday, March 4, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Nets felt good after sweeping two games from the Hawks. But instead of capitalizing on it Monday night, they came out flat against one of the NBA’s worst teams.
The Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 106-102, at Barclays Center, a deflating outcome after the high of their last two wins.
With the Nets trailing 105-100 and 6.7 seconds remaining, Mikal Bridges was fouled while attempting a three-pointer. After he made the first two, the Nets subbed in Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe to rebound an intentional miss.
Bridges missed the free throw but committed a lane violation. That was a fitting end to the team’s disappointing performance.
The Nets (24-37) trailed 80-77 after three quarters against a Grizzlies team that entered on a five-game losing streak and was down nine players.
After being tied at 88, the Nets allowed the Grizzlies (20-42) to go on an 11-2 run that was capped by Luke Kennard’s three-pointer.
“When we got in the fight, we didn’t swing. We didn’t keep swinging,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “And when you don’t keep swinging, you get knocked out. And they knocked us out, starting with me, coaching staff, players.”
It was a 180-degree turn from last Monday in Memphis, when the Nets dispatched the Grizzlies by 25 points.
Instead of the aggressive play they showed the last few games, the Nets let the Grizzlies out-tough them on the glass. They were outrebounded 61-45 and gave up 25 second-chance points.
They also hurt themselves by shooting 17-for-30 on free throws and being outscored 39-27 in bench points.
“The game makes you pay when you’re not locked in,” Cam Johnson said. “I thought our focus was higher the last couple of games and this one, it slipped.”
It was part of a night struggling to keep up with a team ranked last in scoring and field-goal shooting. Kennard, the NBA’s third-leading three-point shooter, shot 8-for-11 overall and 6-for-9 from three-point range and had 25 points.
Claxton had 21 points and Johnson added 18. Bridges had 14 and shot 4-for-14 two days after scoring 38 points.
It was an opportunity to gain more ground on the 10th-place Hawks. Instead, the Nets dropped back a half-game and are 2 1⁄2 games behind Atlanta for the final play-in tournament spot.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
