Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies recently raised eyebrows when he said that he and his team were “fine in the West.”
His comment was a warning shot to the rest of the teams in his conference.
He was telling them that the Grizzlies were going to steamroll through any and everyone on their way to the NBA Finals.
However, the evidence suggests that isn’t necessarily the case.
Only 1 of the top 10 Western Conference teams does NOT have a winning record against the Western Conference…the Memphis Grizzlies. pic.twitter.com/KC8JJuAlDt
— Guru (@DrGuru_) February 2, 2023
In fact, there is only one team in the top ten of the West that does not have a winning record against the rest of the conference: the Grizzlies.
On Wednesday night, the Grizzlies faced another West rival and lost again.
The Portland Trail Blazers got hot during their match against Memphis and eventually won the game, 122-112.
Last week, the Grizzlies were taken down by four other teams from the West: the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and Los Angeles Lakers.
They have also been beaten by the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Denver Nuggets this season.
That doesn’t mean the Grizzlies are a bad team.
Even with their struggles in the West, the team is still the second-best team in the conference with a very strong 32-19 record.
But if they really want to make it to the Western Conference Finals and beyond, they will need to figure out what these teams are doing to get under their skin and steal away victory.
How can they possibly reach the Finals if they are playing best-of-seven series against teams that keep beating them?
The good news for Morant and Memphis is that there is still time to tweak their approach to the West before the playoffs arrive.
NEXT: Ja Morant Has Been On Fire Lately
