The Portland Trail Blazers have had more ups than downs this season when grading on a curve, acknowledging that another rebuilding season won’t produce many victories.
But Sunday night’s 134-89 loss at home to the Memphis Grizzlies represents the low point so far.
It‘s one thing to get blown out by high-end teams with star players such as Golden State (140-104), Oklahoma City (137-114) and Minnesota (127-102). It’s another to be outclassed by a team missing two of its three best players.
“It was just (expletive) embarrassing,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “We were soft as hell the whole game. Nobody really fought. It was just embarrassing for everybody. That’s just not who we are. It really isn’t. No excuse for that.”
Billups added that having rough nights at times is expected in the NBA, but the Blazers’ performance couldn’t be explained away that easily.
“It was like our guys just showed up because they had to be here and didn’t want to play,” he said. “Didn’t want to actually work. And that’s embarrassing. It’s unfortunate that we had to go out there in front of our fans who paid their hard-earned money to come and see their favorite team play and we show up and do that.”
The Grizzlies, without star guards Ja Morant and Demond Bane, led by as much as 19 in the first quarter and 25 in the second quarter.
They worked for and hit wide-open three-pointers, found teammates on backdoor cuts for layups and dunked on fast breaks set into motion by Blazers‘ turnovers. They disrupted the Portland offense so much that only one starter finished with double-figure scoring.
The Blazers started about as poorly as possible. They shot 1 of 10 from three-point range in the first quarter and committed nine turnovers. The Grizzlies led 31-17 at the end of the quarter.
The horrors continued in the second quarter, when the Blazers coughed up another seven turnovers and shot 0 of 8 on threes. Meanwhile, Memphis shot 54.5% from the field in the first half and led 64-44 at halftime.
The Blazers didn’t make their second three-pointer until Scoot Henderson hit one in the third quarter that left them at 1 of 22 and down 82-55.
Jerami Grant hit another shortly after, but the Grizzlies answered with a bucket and then a three to go up 93-60.
Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey, left, grabs the rebound against Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Howard Lao) APAP
Grant led the Blazers with 20 points. Dalano Banton and Donovan Clingan came off the bench to score 13 points each.
Anfernee Simons scored just four points with one assist while shooting 2 of 9 from the field.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Portland ended the night 4 of 42 from three-point range (9.5%) and committed a whopping 22 turnovers. The Grizzlies went 16 of 43 (37.2%) from three-point range. But backups combined to go 2 of 10 in the fourth quarter when the game was all but over.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers (3-8) losing to the Grizzlies (7-4) without Morant and Bane is bad enough. But getting romped is unacceptable, especially for a nearly completely healthy team.
The Blazers might not have another realistic chance to pick up a win until they host Atlanta (4-7) on Sunday. The Blazers’ next opponent, the Minnesota Timberwolves, defeated them 127-102 on Friday.
SHAEDON SHARPE STARTS
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups replaced Deni Avdija in the starting lineup with guard Shaedon Sharpe, who returned to action Thursday after missing the first eight games witih a shoulder injury.
Sharpe, who scored 19 points over his first two outings, contributed seven points on 3-of-10 shooting against the Grizzlies.
NEXT UP
The Blazers host the Timberwolves at 7 p.m. both Tuesday and Wednesday.
— Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)
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