Ja Morant is vowing that the Memphis Grizzlies won't repeat their historically poor performance during Sunday's 51-point Game 1 loss to the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
"We will never play that bad again," Morant said, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
The 51-point margin is the fifth-highest in a playoff game in NBA history, according to ESPN Research. It's the most lopsided postseason contest since the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks by 54 points in 2015. The Thunder led by as many as 56.
"Luckily for us, there's only one way from this, and that's up," said Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo. "We will analyze it, we'll learn from it, and then we will fix those things that hurt us. But there were a lot of things."
The Thunder are expecting a much better fight from the Grizzlies in Game 2.
"We kind of have to take this win, like, they're going to be way better in Game 2," Thunder forward Jalen Williams said. "We're trying to not give them a lot of life in regards to that. That's a really good team over there, so Game 2 is going to be completely different. We're kind of competing with ourselves in a way to make sure we're sharp for Game 2."
OKC's top-ranked defense forced the Grizzlies into 21 turnovers and held them to 34.4% shooting. Memphis also struggled from beyond the arc, going 6-of-34 from three.
"You got to turn the page fast," Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane said. "Definitely take the rest of this afternoon and kind of see what we could have done better, but at the end of the day, it's one game. If we lose by 50 or lose on a buzzer-beater, the series is still 1-0."
Memphis is also dealing with a hobbled Morant, who sprained his right ankle during Tuesday's play-in loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Morant received pain-killing injections to play in the Grizzlies' second play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks. He declined to reveal if he got another shot prior to Sunday's contest, saying his ankle "felt good."
Memphis and OKC will meet in Game 2 on Tuesday.
