Some streaks appear, at first glance, like a typographical error.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have won 15 straight against the Grizzlies. The visiting Thunder will attempt to extend the streak Friday on the road against a Memphis team that has been plagued by an unending wave of injuries since the season began.
The Thunder, who opened the season by going 24-1, have struggled recently, an unexpected slide that has seen them go 7-6 over their past 13 games. Oklahoma City, before its recent struggles, was seen as a threat to the Golden State Warriors’ league-record 73-9 regular season in 2015-16.
Still, the Thunder are not likely to languish.
In Wednesday’s game against the visiting Utah Jazz, reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped in 46 points in a 129-125 overtime win.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was impressed with how his team found a way to win against Utah despite several injuries, including those to center Isaiah Hartenstein (soleus strain) and guard Alex Caruso (back).
Again, Gilgeous-Alexander was the catalyst.
“Most impressive thing is how natural he looks regardless of the circumstance,” Daigneault said. “He looks like the same player every minute of the game, every second of the game, down to the last second. He doesn’t waver. Everything is consistent, even in the pressure moments. That’s why he’s such a great pressure player.”
After an impressive home win over San Antonio on Tuesday, the Grizzlies struggled mightily Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns. Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said his team, with mostly reserves available, was sluggish against the Suns, who enjoyed 20-point leads the majority of the second half and posted a 117-98 victory.
“We can do better,” Iisalo said after the loss. “Everybody understands that we had a tough game (on Tuesday). It seemed like one of those back-to-backs where we just didn’t have it from the beginning. We have to find a way to get through these games.”
The Grizzlies turned the ball over 18 times against Phoenix and those miscues resulted in 25 points for the Suns.
Finding answers in the first half of the season has been difficult for Iisalo. With injuries sidelining guards Ty Jerome (calf) and Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe) since the start of the season — and with two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant missing just over half of the games due to various injuries — the Grizzlies have trotted out more than a dozen different lineups in 37 contests.
Eight players were unavailable against the Suns, including starters Morant (calf), Zach Edey (ankle) and Cedric Coward. A bright spot for the Grizzlies this season as a rookie, Coward had missed only one game before injuring his left ankle Sunday against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
“There is constant instability with the roster,” Iisalo said. “It’s changing every game. I will say this, like I said after (beating San Antonio on Tuesday), guys are doing a great job competing and making the best out of that situation.
“You can really start to improve when you have some stability. We haven’t had that yet. We are working towards that and, in the meantime, we are trying to do everything we can in order to be competitive.”
