76ers vs. Grizzlies: Doc Rivers Highlights Biggest Struggles

76ers head coach Doc Rivers points out his team's two biggest issues in the Friday night loss to the Grizzlies.

Coming off of a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to the court on Friday night to face the Memphis Grizzlies for the first time this season, marking the second matchup of their three-game road trip.

Through the first quarter of action, the Sixers and the Grizzlies traded 24 shots apiece, with both teams draining 12 buckets. While Memphis shot better from beyond the arc, the Sixers had a slight upper hand as they produced one more point than Memphis from trips to the charity stripe. 

For the second-straight game, the Sixers had a lead as large as seven points in the first quarter. And once again, a tough second-quarter stretch prevented the 76ers from building momentum going into halftime. After outscoring the Grizzlies by one point in the first quarter, the Sixers allowed Memphis to outscore them 35-24, causing Philly to trail ten points at the half. 

Not much hope was inspired by Philly in the third quarter. As the same problems persisted, the Sixers trailed by 16 points going into the fourth quarter. While the Sixers were slowly creeping into empty-the-bench territory, Doc Rivers kept his key players out on the floor for a last-chance hope at a comeback.

The Sixers outscored the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter with a strong offensive effort by Joel Embiid and De’Anthony Melton, but it wasn’t enough. Heating up in the fourth quarter against a solid Memphis squad was too little too late for the Sixers, who made two constant critical mistakes throughout the night in the eyes of Rivers.

"The two things going into this game, we said, we can’t turn the ball over against Memphis,” Rivers told reporters after the game. “They’re great in transition.”

The Sixers average 14 turnovers per game this season, which ties for the seventh-best rate in the league, according to Statmuse. While the Sixers were right around their average by coughing the ball up 13 times in Memphis, they allowed 22 points off turnovers, eight more than the Grizzlies, who turned the ball over 12 times. 

For the second-straight game, transition defense was a struggle for the 76ers. On Friday, so was rebounding. 

“The second thing is we have to fight for every offensive rebound,” Rivers pointed out. “They destroyed us. There’s a lot of other things, but those are the two things that stood out.”

Just how bad were the Sixers on the glass Friday night? Not only were they out-rebounded by 15 boards, but Grizzlies center Steven Adams totaled just as many offensive rebounds as the Sixers himself with ten total. 

“It’s offensive rebounds,” Rivers reiterated. “That was the difference. It just killed us.”

The Sixers will leave Memphis with a 117-109 loss attached to their record. With that defeat, they drop to 12-11 on the year, finishing the week’s slate at 1-2, with back-to-back road losses. Next up, the Sixers have the Houston Rockets on the schedule for next Monday night. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.