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Navigating the late-season ups and downs of an NBA's 82-game slog, the excitement of NCAA March Madness, and high school elimination games reveal a lot about a team, collectively and individually. For Taylor Jenkins, the calendar flip is a reminder of the intensity and unpredictability that define basketball at its finest. The convergence of high school playoff basketball, NCAA March Madness, and the looming NBA Playoffs is the pinnacle of the sport. The stakes in do-or-die moments are not lost on Ja Morant's Memphis Grizzlies, who have lost two consecutive games on last-second shots.
Still, Jenkins was waxing poetic about brackets and buzzer-beaters before a 114-113 home loss to Jalen Brunson's chest-beating New York Knicks.
“With coaches going into the high school tournaments right now and (NCAA March Madness), this is the start of the best time of the year in my opinion,” Jenkins shared. “You get playoff basketball at the high school level, you get the tournaments at the collegiate level, and then going through the NBA Playoffs in June. This is the best.”
Things have not been going so well for the Grizzlies (38-22) lately though. Memphis is 3-6 since losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder (48-11) on February 9 and 2-4 since the NBA All-Star break. The Knicks (39-20) and San Antonio Spurs (25-33) both skipped town with unexpected wins. Jenkins explained how the Grizzlies were preparing for the challenges ahead when breaking down the chaos with ClutchPoints.
“As I've been telling our team, the road is only going to get tougher from here. It could be (a future) quarterfinals matchup, a finals matchup, or a Play-In team,” warned Jenkins. “It's going to require the best out of you and it starts with the coach. The players are going to look to you for the leadership, for the poise, the level of accountability, the responsibility. So setting a tone is what I'm trying to do right now. Make sure we are focused on our habits, our standards, and being consistent in that.”
It’s not just about surviving the March Madness but thriving in it. With Ja Morant’s health and the Grizzlies' focus being questioned, Taylor Jenkins is under significant pressure as the NBA Playoffs picture becomes clearer.
Grizzlies, Ja Morant's growing pains
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Injuries are killing the team's consistency. The Grizzlies lost two games in 24 hours on the final possession as the Knicks and Spurs skipped off of Beale Street with big wins. Taylor Jenkins had more money sitting on the bench (Desmond Bane, Ja Morant) than in the starting lineup against the Spurs. Understandably, it's been tough for the Grizzlies to tread water since losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder (48-11) on February 8. Memphis has battled through one of the toughest schedules, spreading the deep roster thin far too often.
Morant missed the fourth game of this season; injured on November 6, the 25-year-old phenom returned November 25 (7 games missed). Morant missed the fourth game in December (at Washington Wizards). Fortunately, the Grizzlies still won that road stop with ease (128-104). The All-Star returned on December 15 (at Los Angeles Lakers), but that did not go so well (110-106). He was then in and out of the lineup through New Year's, then missed another week of action.
Will the Grizzlies have Morant on March 3 (vs. Atlanta Hawks) or March 5 (vs. Thunder on ESPN)? Taylor Jenkins has plenty of jotted down notes at this point of the season in case of emergency. The next step is figuring out the formula to win more than they lose. Memphis beat only one team with a winning record in February after all.
Featuring against the Spurs would have been Morant's sixth straight, the first such occurrence since 2022-23. There is no doubt the Murray State alum is still the metronome in the Memphis locker room though. Memphis had Morant for 8-of-14 January games, losing their cushion in the Western Conference standings in the process. February was better in terms of injury luck and the team rose up the rankings.
Still, Jenkins was left to lament on Morant's 2024-25 season consecutive games streak being stuck at five. Now the Grizzlies are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings, only one game ahead of the Houston Rockets. Memphis has a 1-3 record against Houston this season with the lone win coming in the FedEx Forum. That's the worst case scenario for Taylor Jenkins at this time of the year.
