Even dream jobs have nightmare days. Fortunately, Tuomas Iisalo was able to laugh off uncomfortable questions after Ja Morant's Memphis Grizzlies suffered through a 51-point blowout loss (131-80) to open the NBA Playoffs. A first-round Game 1 against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Oklahoma City Thunder did not go as planned but there are brighter days ahead according to the young head coach.

First, Iisalo tried to lighten the mood, joking that the Grizzlies could not play much worse. Then the 42-year-old pointed ClutchPoints to a few other positive takeaways that the now fully-rested locker room will focus on going into Game 2.

“Well, I think there are a few things. First one, it's very hard to play worse than this,” Iisalo joked. “Marvin Bagley's performance was extremely encouraging. He was already doing this in our previous game against Dallas. That's something that, in the absence of Brandon Clarke, you know, we have not been strong in those minutes. Now it seems like we've found a solution with Marvin.”

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Bagley scored 17 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 17 minutes, sure. Iisalo also had to point out why the Grizzlies never got going on offense as a team. Sticking to the game plan against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and this Thunder defense must be a priority for the Grizzlies to avoid another NBA Playoffs stage blowout.

“The third one is what I've already mentioned,” Iisalo replied. “In the first half (of Game 1), when we did trust what we were doing, the ideas, and playing through that we created quality shots. We did not create enough of them. We did not offensive rebound and we turned it over too much but we created offensive shot quality that can win in these type of games. We've just got to play better defense, and let's say there are a few construction sites for us.”

Overseeing the fifth-largest margin of defeat in postseason history is tough, especially on a new-to-the-job interim head coach. Still, injecting humor into the situation is one way to keep the locker room loose. These Ja Morant-led Grizzlies will need every creature comfort available to pull off an upset of the top-seeded Thunder though. Tuomas Iisalo's focus on improving defense and capitalizing on offensive opportunities will be crucial. The Grizzlies, despite the setback, have shown resilience under the Finnish maestro. Now, the job is all about extending the season just one more game, one game at a time.