It was a tough game between the Nets and the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
Brooklyn, which has lost four of its last five games, came to Memphis with two wins against the Grizzlies this season and was undefeated on the road against Western Conference teams.
HoweverI Morant and the Grizzlies rolled over the Nets in the eventual 135-119 victory. But the matchup will be remembered more for what happened between Memphis’ star player and the Nets’ first-time coach, Jordi Fernandez.
Ffirst, Morant hit the buzzer beater just before halftime to put the Grizzlies up 69-56. The star guard celebrated his shot by walking around half court and seemingly directing his shout at Fernandez before driving past him.
After the game, Fernandez was asked about the moment.
“I didn’t tell him anything. I don’t talk to other players unless I know them,” Fernandez said. “And that must be judged by the officials… Out of respect for the match, I will only talk to the coach of the other team if I know him.”
Fernandez explained that his philosophy is that if he doesn’t know you, he doesn’t want any interaction while the game is out of politeness. He expects the same from his players.
“I think it’s disrespectful that it’s not part of the game,” Fernandez added. “I want to be respectful, that’s what we project to everyone else. Play with respect for the game, whether you’re a superstar or who you are.”
The game itself was, of course, physical, and there was often simmering resentment from the Nets players and coaches beneath the surface. Technical faults were awarded Nothing Claxton and Fernandez during a stretch in the second half for disagreements with officials.
That tension may have resulted in the net unraveling in the second half after they cut the Grizzlies’ lead to two in the third quarter, but Fernandez wants his team to know they don’t have control over the officials, only how they play, and that didn’t happen. not good enough on friday
Memphis shot 53 percent from the floor (including 47 percent from three), outrebounded the Nets 68-42 in the paint and outrebounded Brooklyn 49-41.
“If we didn’t want them barking, we had to go out and fight,” Dorian-Finney Smith he said after the game. “And we cannot fight with our words; we have to go there and he hit them. And they were the first to intervene.”
The confrontations did not end there.
With less than two minutes remaining and the game already in play, Morant began talking toward Fernandez and the Nets bench. That caused it Dennis Schroder start chirping back and at the Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins.
“Dennis said the words to the coach and I told him I never want any of my players to go talk to the coach,” Fernandez said. “That’s not how I want my team to behave… I don’t want that. I want to compete on the field, fight on the field.”
There was another scuffle as time expired and the coaches shook hands as Shroder started talking again, but cooler heads prevailed and both teams eventually returned to their locker rooms.
The Nets (10-15) will look to cool off and get back in the win column when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. They won’t face the Grizzlies again in the regular season.