As they fall behind in the Eastern Conference play-in race, the Nets are looking to fix these issues, as they play the struggling Memphis Grizzlies.
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In the two games since Kevin Ollie took over as interim coach, the Brooklyn Nets have struggled in the fourth quarter and with fast-break points, among other areas. As they fall behind in the Eastern Conference play-in race, the Nets are looking to fix these issues, improve their offense, and end their current four-game losing streak when they play the struggling Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.
Ollie’s first two games as an NBA coach were a 121-93 loss at Toronto on Thursday and a 101-86 loss at Minnesota two nights later. These games came after the Nets suffered a 136-86 defeat at Boston in former coach Jacque Vaughn’s last game. In their last three games, the Nets have shot 37.3 percent from the field and 26.2 percent (27 of 103) from 3-point range.
Brooklyn’s shooting struggles continued on Saturday at Minnesota, where they fell apart in the fourth quarter. They ended up shooting a season-worst 33.7 percent from the field and a season-worst 17.1 percent from behind the arc. This was the Nets’ worst shooting percentage since they shot 33.3 percent against Memphis on March 4, 2020, and their lowest 3-point shooting percentage since they made 13 percent (3 of 23) at San Antonio on Jan. 17, 2023.
For the Grizzlies, Bane (ankle injury), Clarke (Achilles tendon injury), Morant (shoulder injury), Oladipo (knee injury), Pippen (back injury), and Smart (finger injury) will not be playing the game. As for the Nets, only Whitehead is unavailable for the game due to a foot injury.
Brooklyn’s struggles under Ollie are part of a 2-8 skid since they beat Houston and Utah on Jan 27-29. They’re also part of an extended 8-25 slide since they won by four points at Phoenix on Dec. 13.
Memphis has gone 2-10 over their last 12 games since they won three straight on Jan. 22-26. They ended a nine-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over Houston and Milwaukee before the break, but they fell short in a 101-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night when they were outscored 12-4 over the final three-plus minutes.
It was the eighth single-digit loss in the 12-game skid, and the Grizzlies scored 95 points or fewer for the eighth time this season. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 29 points and has scored at least 20 in 12 of his past 14 games. Jackson is hoping to get better support from the other four starters, Vince Williams Jr., Ziaire Williams, Luke Kennard, and Santi Aldama, after the quartet combined for 33 points on 14 of 31 from the field.
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