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Facing NBA competition, Grizzlies fizzle against Charlotte Hornets, 120-99

NEW TRI-STATE DEFENDER — It’s not like Monday was the first time these new-look Grizzlies started sluggishly on the offensive end. Against both Maccabi Haifa and the New Zealand Breakers, Memphis started the game sloppily, but were able to recover against their non-NBA opponents, eventually winning both games going away.

Published

6 years ago

October 17, 2019

Oakland Post

Ja Morant faced his first NBA competition on Oct. 14, when the Charlotte Hornets visited for a preseason game. Morant scored 15 points to go with six assists, but Charlotte pulled away in the fourth quarter to win. (Photo by: Lee Eric Smith)

By Lee Eric Smith

It’s not like Monday was the first time these new-look Grizzlies started sluggishly on the offensive end. Against both Maccabi Haifa and the New Zealand Breakers, Memphis started the game sloppily, but were able to recover against their non-NBA opponents, eventually winning both games going away.

Well, so much for that.

Starting with last night’s 120-99 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, from here on out, your young and inexperienced Memphis Grizzlies will be playing against teams and players that can and will exploit those errors. The joke in the media room after the game was: “Well, are you ready for 41 more of those?”

There were silver linings. Brandon Clarke had a huge game. And despite so many unforced errors, the game was still within reach going into the fourth quarter, 90-85. But where Charlotte knocked down threes to stretch their lead, Memphis managed to score just four points through the first seven minutes of the final frame, and just 14 in total.

Check out my postgame three-pointer, live-streamed on Facebook after the game. Follow @TSDMemphis on Facebook to get notifications of when we’re going live.

And Head Coach Taylor Jenkins comments after the game: