The Memphis Grizzlies were flat out dominated by the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff did not mince words when it came to his team's performance.
Memphis simply could not get anything going in the 132-111 loss in Atlanta. Bickerstaff was critical of his team's effort afterward, via Michael Wallace of the team's official website:
“We laid an egg tonight.”
There is certainly plenty of truth to Bickerstaff's comments as Memphis' defense was uncharacteristically generous to the Hawks' offensive attack. They allowed a season-high 72 points in the first half and played most of the game down by double digits. It seems Bickerstaff is attributing this loss to a lack of effort.
It is no secret that the Grizzlies are not the most mobile team in transition. The Hawks took full advantage of this weakness by essentially running them into the ground. This was evidenced by a halfcourt alley-oop from point guard Trae Young to center John Collins.
One of the lone bright spots for Memphis in this game was the stellar performance of shooting guard C.J. Miles. He finished the game with a season-high 33 points on an efficient 11-of-16 shooting from the field. While his efforts were enough to keep them in the game early on, it was only a matter of time before Atlanta was able to pull away.
There is no question that this has been a tough season for the Grizzlies as they are in the midst of a rebuild. However, getting dominated by a team that is also rebuilding is never a good sign about their progress moving forward. They will have a chance to bounce back against the lowly Washington Wizards on Saturday.
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