The first-round series between San Antonio and Memphis ended the way it was supposed to Sunday afternoon, with the Spurs easily sweeping aside the Grizzlies to close out the series in four games.
But it would be a mistake sum up Memphis's season with the Grizzlies' rough and ragged performance in these four games. If that doesn't make sense, just ask Memphis coach Dave Joerger, who was in tears at the postgame podium trying to capture what this team meant to him.
"Those guys are pros, and for what we've been through . . . I would do anything for those guys," Joerger said. "They've embraced every guy who came in, no matter what their history was, and they cared about them. These guys fought, and I can't tell you enough about how proud I am of every guy that is in that locker room, and has come through that locker room this season."
It's been an unbelievable last few months for Joerger and the Grizzlies, who have endured and unfathomable string of injuries. Marc Gasol was lost with a broken navicular bone in his foot, which led to the Grizzlies trading away guard Courtney Lee at the trade deadline.
Then Mario Chalmers was lost to a torn Achilles, and Mike Conley wasn't available in the playoffs with a strained one. The Grizzlies played an NBA-record 28 different players this season - nearly twice as many guys as the 15-man roster maximum.
Through all of that, Joerger was in a never-ending balancing act to keep everyone playing, and find ways to keep all the new players out on the court and performing with some kind of cohesion.
"We've just had to get to know each other's names," Joerger said recently with a smile. "There have been several different lulls [because of the injuries], but then we pick ourselves up, and we take the next hit and keep going."
Including the four playoff losses to the Spurs, the Grizzlies dropped 19 of their final 24 games, including 14 of their final 15. But, at the same time, three of those wins came against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road, and the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls at home - and that doesn't count the Grizzlies' amazing performance at home against the Golden State Warriors late in the regular season, in which Memphis led until the final minute and nearly ended Golden State's quest for 73 wins.
Even against the Spurs, the Grizzlies gave all that they had - regardless of the fact there wasn't much to give. They hung around for sections of each game, usually seeing the game get away from them in the second half though they took Game 3 right down to the final minutes before eventually succumbing to their much more talented counterparts.
"The good thing for us about the series is the Grizzlies were fantastic," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Their drive, their passion, their physicality for 48 minutes per game."
The thing that likely made things more emotional for Joerger, and everyone else in Memphis, is that this could potentially be the end of a truly special run for this franchise over the past several years. A navicular bone fracture can be tricky to recover from, at least leaving the possibility something could complicate Gasol's future. Conley is going to be a free agent, and while the Grizzlies have been defiant that they will re-sign him, there's always the chance he could wind up leaving. And with Tony Allen and Zach Randolph now 34 and entering the final year of their respective contracts, the "Grit 'N' Grind" Era in Memphis could be drawing to a close.
It's been a fantastic run, with a Western Conference Finals trip and several playoff appearances in a row. But none of them meant as much, as least in the moment, as this one did.
"This season has been hard," Joerger said, wiping away tears. "It's been really hard. They could've quit, could've not made the playoffs, and every day they came out and fought like crazy.
"I hope as a community, and I know we do, that we love our Grizzlies, and love on those guys and wish them the best as they go forward in their career, and hopefully for a long time with us."
It's never fun for any team to go home from the postseason, and particularly with a first-round sweep sending them packing without picking up a single playoff win. But for the Memphis Grizzlies, this was an effort that should leave them anything but ashamed.
The Grit 'N' Grind Era may be winding down, but its qualities were fully on display these past few weeks in Memphis -- no matter who was on the court.
About the Author
