Can the Grizzlies Overcome Their 50-Point Game One Loss?
Is it possible for a team to overcome a loss of 50 points? This is a question that, for many, including myself, never crossed our minds. I mean, blowouts happen in all sports, especially in basketball. Teams will often lose by 18 points, 20 points, 25 points, and the occasional 30-point game. This is especially true in today’s modern game, given the vast quantity of three-pointers teams take, making it more likely to see double-digit leads squashed and larger holes to climb out of, but 50 points, that is a hole that is all too rare for teams even in the modern NBA.
Alas, this is a subject that the Grizzlies had to witness firsthand as they got blown out by the Oklahoma City Thunder by 51 points in Game One of their first-round playoff series. This margin of defeat is the largest in Game One of a playoff series ever and stands only seven points off the postseason record. With a loss like this, in which the star players of both teams were sitting out with almost an entire quarter left of the game, can a team recover? Is it even possible for a team to bounce back and make this into a series? The short answer is yes.
Throughout the history of the NBA, many teams have suffered from massive playoff losses and still managed to make something of the series. In 1956, the St. Louis Hawks shot 22-91 from the field en route to a 58-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, then the Minneapolis Lakers, and still went on to win the series 2-1. In 2017, the Boston Celtics suffered a 44-point loss to the Cavs in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals and still managed to win the next game before ultimately losing the series. Another, much more recent example was in last year’s division round, which saw the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets by 45 in the midst of a seven-game series. As for the Grizzlies themselves, they blew out the Warriors in game 5 of their 2022 division round series by 39. A month later, the Warriors hosted the Larry O’Brien Trophy as NBA champions. Needless to say, it’s not impossible for a team to bounce back after such a horrid loss.
To do this, though, a team must remind itself of who they are. The Grizzlies stood as the second seed in the Western Conference for weeks before being stricken with multiple injuries to Ja Morant, the loss of Brandon Clark, and the firing of their coach, all leading to a falloff in the standings. This team still has the same players, and they still have the same coaching staff they did months ago. This team couldn’t have played any worse than they did Sunday afternoon, and the Thunder couldn’t have played any better. Despite what happened on Easter Sunday, the Grizzlies are still a top-five offense in the league, they still finished 14 games above .500, and they still earned their way into the playoffs. While a loss of this magnitude is for sure disappointing and embarrassing, the only stat that matters is that the team is down 1-0 in the series. This is rock bottom, and the only way left to go is up.
