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Thanks to a third-quarter spurt, it looked as though the Memphis Grizzlies were going to hand the Dallas Mavericks a devastating loss that would have knocked them out of contention for the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. But the Mavericks turned things around with a furious fourth-quarter rally, with three right-wing threes (two from Spencer Dinwiddie, one from PJ Washington) spurring Dallas to a 121-116 win that allows them to book a trip to the competition's knockout stage.
While the Grizzlies had little more to play for in the way of their 2024 NBA Cup life, this game still counts against their regular-season record, and this defeat snaps their six-game winning streak — and in infuriating fashion as well. Memphis got called for its fifth team foul of the fourth quarter with 7:40 remaining in the period, and from there, Dallas slowed down the game and made them pay — with the Mavericks taking 26 free throws in the fourth quarter and making 18 of them to fuel their comeback efforts.
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins could not believe how the Mavericks shot 23 more free throws than they did in the fourth quarter and only stopped himself in his postgame presser from going berserk on the referees.
“I understand that there were probably some ticky-tack ones in the bonus that we could have been better for sure. But I don't know how in an NBA Cup game [there's] that big of a disparity. I got to be careful with my words and stuff but I hope it's very clear… in an NBA Cup game, I don't know how you have a team shoot 30 more free throws,” Jenkins said, via Grizzlies on FanDuel Sports Network on X (formerly Twitter).
Grizzlies' offense shuts down in the fourth quarter
One underrated impact of an opposing team shooting free throws on nearly every trip is that it slows down the game's pace. The Grizzlies thrive when they play fast, taking after Ja Morant's lead, and thus it was no surprise that their offense died down in the fourth quarter against the Mavericks.
They shot just 8-23 from the field (3-10 from deep) in the quarter, with the Mavericks' routine trips to the foul line stripping them of their offensive rhythm. Being called for 15 fouls in the quarter also won't help matters whatsoever.
By the end of the game, the Mavericks had shot 44 free throws compared to the Grizzlies' 14. That is indeed a hard disparity to overcome, although it's a testament to Memphis that they almost did win the game in spite of this.
