The Grizzlies ended their three-game losing streak in their visit to Sacramento. The Memphis team beat the Kings in a comfortable way by 102-127, thus achieving a triumph that consolidates them in the fourth place in the West and keeps the California team in the lower zone of the conference.
After an even first half, the difference between the two teams became evident in the second half, in which the Tennessee team had no mercy and thrashed some completely inoperative Kings. With a partial of 5-24 in less than 4 minutes, the visitors took a comfortable income in the middle of the third quarter, and with the passage of the minutes they would achieve that the distance went to more until reaching 30 goals (90-120 ). In this way, the Grizzlies were able to regain feelings and find themselves again, a feeling that we will see if they manage to maintain in future games.
Desmond Bane, with 28 points, finished as the top scorer of the clash, continuing his great moment of form thanks in part to his outside success (4/6 in triples). Jaren Jackson Jr., with 21 points, also exceeded twenty, while Ja Morant had a fairly complete performance when he finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Gentry, no mincing words
The second half of the Kings did not leave much less satisfied Alvin Gentry, who at a press conference left some of the most blunt statements of recent years. The coach did not hold his tongue when expressing how he felt, and was very hard on his players and their performance.
“I can honestly say that I have never been so disappointed in my 34 years in the NBA,” he began. “This performance has been absolutely ridiculous. We have not played with enthusiasm, we have not competed, we have not defended on the ball, we have not defended the blocks, we have not followed our game plan … There has been no sign of competitiveness. They basically played with us. I am incredibly disappointed and I think that all of us in this pavilion should feel that way.
The Kings got De’Aaron Fox back, who had missed the last four games due to sanitation protocols, but so far the good news. We’ll see if these harsh words from Gentry have any visible effect on the court in upcoming games.
(Cover photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
