Duke basketball: Don’t blame Grayson Allen for Grizzlies loss

The Memphis Grizzlies fell by refusing to feed their Duke basketball champ.

As noted here at Ball Durham on Saturday, hours before the No. 8 seed Memphis Grizzlies hosted the No. 1 seed Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the word “warm” has not been in the vocabulary of Duke basketball alum Grayson Allen (2014-18) this postseason.

Hot or cold. Never in between.

And that brings us to one major reason Memphis is now behind, 2-1, in the series following its 121-111 loss to Utah. That reason? Well, there was an obvious failure to recognize midway through the fourth quarter that Allen, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who has served as the group’s energetic “sixth man” as of late, was threatening to enter his patented momentum-seizing mode.

Yes, the hero off the bench for the Blue Devils in the second half of the 2015 national title game could have been the same for the Grizzlies had they sufficiently fed him the rock.

A cloak of invisibility covering the Duke basketball product?

With about eight minutes to play, Grayson Allen was fresh off two huge buckets on back-to-back possessions.

The first? Oh, that was just an oh-so-bold hang-and-fling score off the glass. He somehow pulled that off despite running up against the NBA’s most lethal swatter in two-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert — the presumptive third-time DPOY winner this year.

The second? A picturesque 3-pointer from 26 feet out on the wing. That splash tied things up at 98-98 and forced a timeout by Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, who also happens to be a former Duke basketball guard (1985-89).

Inexcusably, Allen’s next shot attempt after that didn’t arrive until 20.7 seconds to go. By that time, the Jazz had already cemented their victory.

Specifically, it was backcourt starter Dillon Brooks who unsuccessfully tried to shoulder the load for the Grizzlies during a key possession when Memphis saw an opening to take the lead.

Trailing, 110-109, with just under four minutes remaining on the clock, Brooks — who totaled 27 points but went a costly 1-for-7 from downtown — twice on that one possession heaved up what were borderline decent looks beyond the arc. While doing so, Allen was clearly wide open and eagerly looking for what likely would have been an in-rhythm statement swish in either instance.

Sure, head coach Taylor Jenkins was at least bright enough to keep Allen on the floor for the final 10 minutes of the pivotal game, in which the Grizzlies gave back homecourt advantage to the team with the best record in the league this season. Evidently, though, he didn’t adequately emphasize to his guys the importance of feeding what was their winningest hand at the time.

Grayson James Allen.

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Besides, if not for Allen’s gritty defense and deep swishes late in the first half, Memphis could have been down by 20 or so at the break instead of the more manageable 11-point deficit.

The 25-year-old finished with his playoff-high 17 points while shooting 6-for-11 from the field, including a 5-for-8 clip from long range. He also chipped in three rebounds and one steal across 30 minutes of action.

Yet had Brooks — and others — simply passed Allen the ball a bit more often down the stretch, the former Jazzman might now be an unwelcomed guest inside the nightmares of the franchise that drafted him No. 21 overall in 2018.

Another Duke basketball treasure for the Grizzlies, backup point guard Tyus Jones, ended up playing only eight minutes, tallying three points, one assist, and one steal. Wisely, however, at least his single dime was to Grayson Allen for a three.

Game 4 tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. ET Monday in Memphis before the series heads back to Salt Lake City for Game 5 on Wednesday (TBD time). Needless to say, this next one is pretty much a must-win for the underdog Grizzlies.