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The Memphis Grizzlies faced a grind to get into the NBA Playoffs.
After losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first game of the NBA Play-In Tournament, the Grizzlies’ fate came down to a win-or-go-home contest against the Dallas Mavericks.
They were triumphant, earning the No. 8 seed in the NBA Playoffs and a matchup against the powerhouse Oklahoma City Thunder.
While there should be a decent amount of disparity between the No. 1 seed and the No. 8 seed, NBA fans likely weren’t ready for what happened in Game 1.
Stephen A. Smith has message for Ja Morant
In the first game of the day on Easter Sunday, the Thunder jumped out to an early lead, though not insurmountable.
After the first quarter, the Thunder led by 12. But by the end of the second quarter, they led by 32.
The lead kept growing and growing and at one point was a 55-point lead before coasting the rest of the way to a 131-80 win.
The camera briefly pandered to the Grizzlies’ bench, where Ja Morant could be seen laughing.
One person who took offense to that was ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
“Y’all down 50 and you on the bench laughing? Nah, I don’t wanna see what,” Smith said. “I don’t think anybody in Memphis wanna see that… People don’t wanna see you laughing when you getting your a*s kicked like that.
“You want to see somebody ticked off, especially if you’re a fan, because you’re emotionally invested. At that particular moment, it provides a question mark for you as to whether or not that cat is invested.”
Smith then warns Morant and the Grizzlies of what could be coming up.
“That ass kicking that Oklahoma City gave to you doesn’t show any signs of letting up,” Smith said. “They might not beat you by 50, but it is not beyond the realm of comprehension that they could smoke you by 20 or 30 the rest of the way.”
