Memphis Grizzlies: 4 takeaways from their last 4 games

4. They started losing the turnover battle

Game in question: Jan. 14 vs. Houston Rockets

The Grizzlies started out the year as one of the best turnover margin teams in the league. Through Dec. 1, they were eighth in the league in turnover percentage, seventh in the league in opponent points off of turnovers and sixth in the forcing turnovers.

This was a locked-in, defense-first team that controlled the ball and made other teams make errors. They played slow, played well and excelled in getting faster-paced teams to make mistakes.

Since Dec. 1 though? They’ve tumbled all the way down to 27th in turnover percentage and 25th in opponent points off of turnovers. Since Jan. 1, they have actually gotten worse, ranking 28th in the league in turnover percentage and 29th in opponent points off of turnovers.

The team still does a good job of forcing turnovers, ranking ninth in the league after Jan. 1, but it’s been losing the turnover battle in almost every game.

Look no further than the Grizzlies’ matchup with the Rockets on Jan. 14. The game saw James Harden go supernova (again), but the Grizzlies also committed 24 turnovers to the Rockets’ 14. Marc Gasol had seven and Mike Conley had five. Shelvin Mack was the only rotation player that didn’t commit a turnover.

The Rockets were able to turn those 24 turnovers in 27 points on the other end, while the Grizzlies managed just 19.