The Memphis Grizzlies are the lone winless team in the NBA as they start a two-game set in Portland.
The Grizzlies are 0-5 for the first time since opening the 2002-03 season with 13 consecutive defeats as they enter Friday night’s game against the Trail Blazers. The second game is Sunday night.
The first contest is part of the NBA’s new in-season tournament that begins Friday. The Grizzlies and Trail Blazers are part of West Group A along with the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.
The teams play one game against all the other teams in the group. Two squads advance to the knockout round. The championship game is Dec. 9 in Las Vegas.
Memphis would need a quick turnaround to have any chance of making it to the knockout round.
The Grizzlies are badly undermanned with star point guard Ja Morant serving a 25-game suspension for detrimental conduct. And Memphis badly bombed on Wednesday when it was throttled 133-109 by the Utah Jazz in the opener of a three-game road trip.
The contest was a mismatch from the outset with Utah holding a 42-19 lead after the first quarter and stretching it to 79-46 at halftime.
“It was a barrage for sure in the first half,” Grizzles coach Taylor Jenkins said. “I’m not big about moral victories. That’s something that doesn’t exist. Just finding ways to get better, which I thought we did in the second half.”
Desmond Bane scored 21 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies, who shot 36.5 percent from the field and 14-of-54 (25.9 percent) from 3-point range.
“Stay the course — we’ve been preaching the same stuff,” Jackson said. “We’re on a skid right now. It’s been hard but there’s been a lot of positivity throughout the team and that’s what matters because we’re going to need that later.”
Bane is averaging a team-best 24.6 points per game.
Rebuilding Portland opened the season with three straight defeats before notching back-to-back road victories over the Toronto Raptors (99-91) and Detroit Pistons (110-101).
Second-year guard Shaedon Sharpe scored a season-high 29 points in Wednesday’s win over the Pistons. He scored 26 of them in the second half.
The 20-year-old Sharpe has three 20-point outings this season. While scoring isn’t an issue, Portland coach Chauncey Billups pours lots of energy into making Sharpe be a force on defense as well.
“Great players play both sides of the ball,” Billups said after Wednesday’s game. “He’s young and in that phase where we’re trying to mold him. I’m not going to let up on him.
“He’s going to be a star and he’s going to appreciate it someday that I did hold him to a certain standard every single day. He tells me he wants to be great. Well, there’s a price to pay for that.”
The other projected star in the Trail Blazers’ backcourt, Scoot Henderson, sprained his right ankle against the Pistons. Henderson was ruled out for the Memphis game.
Henderson, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, had 11 points and seven assists in 20 minutes against Detroit. He is averaging 8.8 points and 4.6 assists and shooting just 34.6 percent from the field through five games.
Billups also liked seeing the career-high five steals on center Deandre Ayton’s stat line. The offseason acquisition also had 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Pistons.
“D.A. was a presence in there with his rebounding and five steals,” Billups said.
The Grizzlies went 2-1 against the Trail Blazers last season, including a 111-106 win in Portland on Nov. 2, 2022.
–Field Level Media