Looking at the scoreboard, the 2025 NBA playoffs started with a bang, but by the end of the weekend, things seemed to fizzle. Eight games over two days brought plenty of offense and big team totals, but the real talk of the weekend? It was Memphis’ brutal 51-point blowout loss to Oklahoma City. This loss set a new record for the largest margin of victory in a Game 1 in NBA playoff history. Yikes, right? But have you ever thought about what might’ve caused this embarrassing collapse for Tuomas Iisalo’s Memphis?
The Memphis Grizzlies took a brutal 131-80 loss in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That defeat left Memphis reeling, while OKC now sits comfortably in the driver’s seat heading into Game 2. It’s been a rough stretch for Memphis, losing nine straight games to the Thunder dating back to the 2022 season. On Sunday, their struggles were on full display once again. As they couldn’t keep up with Oklahoma City’s deep, balanced offense. And now people started pointing fingers at coach Tuomas Iisalo as well as their offense. Especially at the heights it has (or rather, doesn’t have) right now.
Let’s take a step back and look at the rosters. Nikola Topic stands tall at 6’6”, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) is also 6’6”, and even Alex Caruso, one of the smaller guys in the Thunders lineup, stands at 6’5”. But then, you look at the Grizzlies. Ja Morant is 6’2”, Yuki Kawamura is 5’8”, and Scotty Pippen Jr. is just 6’1”. Do you see the difference now? On top of that, SGA is playing at the peak of his career right now, on a serious roll. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are still trying to find their rhythm, struggling to match up in terms of both height and consistency.
Fans are starting to talk about the clear gap in size, with some even saying it’s holding Memphis back. As Ma$e pointed out in a recent episode of Come Talk 2 Me, “That team is too small like when you got people out there looking like they’re 6’2 – 6’2, 6’3 and that’s the entire wing. That’s just too small to win a championship.” He believes that teams that small can’t survive deep playoff runs, especially when everyone else is towering over them. Having said that, Cam’ron then pointed out how the Golden State Warriors flipped the script despite their own height issues against the Houston Rockets.
“Golden State, they looked miniature to Houston,” he said. But according to Cam’ron, they won because they knew how to steal the ball early. Cam’ron explained it perfectly: “Steph is down there in the paint, Can’t get no rebounds. Stephen Adams shoving them around, Shon shoving them around but they were getting steals before it got to that. And that’s what attributed to it.”
So, ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s not just about size, it’s about IQ, awareness, and stealing the ball before size even matters. And surely now, Coach Tuomas’ team is nowhere near that soft spot.
After Thunder mauling, Coach Tuomas Iisalo channels defeat into optimism
After getting absolutely crushed by the Thunder in Game 1, the Memphis Grizzlies are now doing damage control, and they’re trying hard. Ja Morant came out after the loss and said, “We will never play that bad again.” You’ve got to admire the confidence. That’s exactly what fans want to hear, even if it’s running on fumes right now. Head coach Tuomas Iisalo, who had a front-row seat to the 51-point disaster, also tried to put a positive spin on it.
“There’s an old saying that a playoff series doesn’t start before there’s a road win,” Iisalo said to reporters, like a man clinging to a life raft. Yes, sure, coach, technically true. But a 51-point beating isn’t that a rough way to test that theory? He doubled down when asked for positives: “Well, I think there are a few things. First one, it’s very hard to play worse than this.” That’s one way to look at it, and honestly, it might be the only way right now.
Memphis now heads into Game 2 on Tuesday night, knowing they can’t afford another meltdown. Sure, they’ve lost nine straight games to the Thunder, but playoff basketball is about short memory and big comebacks. If Tuomas and Morant are right, this was just their rock bottom. But if not? That bus ride back home is gonna feel really long.
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