After their eighth loss in their past 10 games, the Memphis Grizzlies turned their anger toward one another on Wednesday night.
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Memphis teammates Omri Casspi and Garrett Temple were involved in a physical altercation following a team meeting after a 101-94 loss to the Detroit Pistons. Charania details that the bench unit was singled out at one point during the meeting, resulting in both players needing to be separated.
"The Grizzlies fell to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, 101-94, for their third straight defeat. Memphis coaches and players gathered for a team meeting in the locker room after the game, questioning each other about their effort and what each can do to improve, league sources said.
The discussion then turned toward the bench players and a perceived lack of enthusiasm from the unit, when Casspi became vocal in his defense, sources said. Temple and Casspi exchanged words and had a physical exchange before they were separated, according to those sources."
Casspi is a bench player but also a proven veteran in the NBA. He's been around the league since 2009 and has averaged 8.0 points in 20.7 minutes per game during his 10-year career. On the other side of the equation is Temple, who is a starter for the Grizzlies and known as a team leader while serving as vice president of the player union's executive committee.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff kept it short and simple regarding the altercation between his players, stating the following during his postgame press conference.
"A conversation that needed to be had that will stay between those of us that were in that locker room," Bickerstaff said.
Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace added that there will be internal discipline following Wednesday night's reported altercation, but didn't get into specifics. He also made it clear that he was unhappy about the story leaking, and said that would also "be dealt with internally."
Chris Wallace says there will be internal discipline based on last night’s reported locker room incident but declined to specify what that meant. He also expressed displeasure that the story leaked and said that would also “be dealt with internally.”
— Chris Herrington (@HerringtonNBA) January 3, 2019
In other words, things officially reached a boiling point in Memphis following its latest loss. The Grizzlies got off to a fast start at the beginning of the season, racing out to one of the league's best records at 12-5. It had looked as if they had bucked the trend once again by re-establishing their "Grit and Grind" persona after their 22-60 campaign last season. However, that now looks like a mirage.
Despite the fast start, the Grizzlies are now just 18-19, losers of three straight and 14 of their past 20 games. It's become abundantly clear that although they maintain their defensive identity -- they rank second in the league in points allowed per game -- their second-to-last ranking in offense and dead-last standing in pace have given the Grizzlies virtually little chance of competing in today's pace-and-space era.
There appears to be no quick fix in Memphis. It's clear that the Grizzlies' lack the offensive talent to compete in today's league, where the league scoring average has ballooned to 110.2 points per game -- while Memphis averages a measly 101.5 points per game.
The Grizzlies, looking to get in the win column on Friday against the Nets (8 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension), may have exercised some of that pent-up frustration during their physical altercation on Wednesday night, but don't expect their fortunes to change anytime soon.
