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Grizzlies lock playoff path after Warriors win

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Jedd Pagaduan | Last updated Apr 12, 2025 3:03 AM ET

To say that the past few weeks have gone terribly for the Memphis Grizzlies is an understatement. After being a top-four team in the Western Conference for most of the year, the Grizzlies have fallen off, and on Friday night, cemented their place in the play-in tournament after suffering a 117-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets, as pointed out by ESPN. What makes this all the more disheartening for the Grizzlies is that they held a 15-point lead at one point over the Nuggets, only to throw it away late in the game.

The internal turmoil within the Grizzlies organization led to a drastic measure; despite being successful with the team, the Grizzlies decided to let go of head coach Taylor Jenkins, naming Tuomas Iisalo as the team’s interim head coach at least until the end of the season. And now, with Memphis being locked into the play-in tournament, two losses in a knockout setting could mean the end of their 2024-25 campaign.

Memphis has gone 5-9 over their past 14 games, and there is no aspiring playoff team in the West that can survive that brutal of a stretch without having a comfortable enough buffer beforehand. And with the vibes within the Grizzlies team being not quite ideal, they will have to dig deep if they were to make it to the playoffs as the seventh-seeded team at best.

Grizzlies to fight for their playoff lives in the coming days

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) reacts after scoring the game-winning shot against the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The prospect of facing either the Oklahoma City Thunder or Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs is not enticing whatsoever. But that is a better outcome for the Grizzlies than to flame out of the postseason early.

There is not going to be an easy play-in tournament matchup for the Grizzlies; perhaps they can talk themselves into matching up best against a more rugged and gritty Minnesota Timberwolves team, but they recently lost to Minnesota in a crucial game with playoff implications, and at this point, the Grizzlies appear to be the shakiest team in the West’s top-eight.

If the Grizzlies win the final game of the regular season against the Dallas Mavericks and the Timberwolves somehow lose to the Dallas Mavericks (and the Golden State Warriors win over the Los Angeles Clippers), Memphis will at least host the 7/8 play-in matchup against Minnesota. And the good news is that they will have two chances at worst to make the playoffs and perhaps rescue what was once a very promising bounce-back campaign.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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