Cedric Coward reacts to Grizzlies snapping 4-game losing streak in NBA Cup

5 hours ago7 min read

Man, you could just feel the relief washing over FedExForum on Friday night. The Memphis Grizzlies, our guys, had been stuck in a brutal four-game skid that had the whole fanbase sweating, the kind of stretch where every missed three feels like a personal insult and the game thread comments get real spicy, real fast.But then Cedric Coward, the 11th pick who’s been playing with the swagger of a guy who’s been in the league for a decade, decided enough was enough. Coming off the bench like a secret weapon, Coward dropped a casual 21 points, snagged nine boards, and dished out four dimes, tying for the team high and looking completely unfazed by the bright lights of the NBA Cup stage against Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks.The final, a decisive 118-104 W, wasn't just a box score; it was a statement. The kid was surgical, hitting 7-of-10 from the field and draining 3-of-5 from deep in just 28 minutes of burn.It was the kind of efficient, explosive performance that makes you immediately open a new tab to look up his rookie card prices. This wasn't a fluke.With this outing, his second 20-point game of the young season, Coward officially entered the conversation with the other top-tier rookies—Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe, and the hyped-up Cooper Flagg—forming what’s looking like a truly special draft class. But what makes this Grizzlies win so compelling isn't just the stat line; it's the context.This team has been navigating a minefield of early-season injuries, forcing Coach Tuomas Iisalo to lean heavily on his bench, and Coward has seized that opportunity with both hands. He’s not just filling minutes; he’s dominating them.He’s now third in the entire league in reserve scoring with 150 total points, trailing only established names like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jerami Grant.Let that sink in. A rookie, who wasn't even a lottery pick, is already hanging with the league's premier sixth men.His averages—15 points, 5. 8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and a steal on a blistering 43. 6% from three—paint the picture of a versatile, three-and-D wing who can do a little bit of everything.Even more impressively, he ranks 23rd among all players in the advanced metric of true-shooting percentage (70. 1%), a number that puts him in the company of the game's most efficient stars.After the game, Coward’s post-game comments to Grind City Media weren’t the typical cliché-ridden athlete speak. He sounded like a veteran, talking about how the losing streak, as painful as it was, served as a crucial learning experience.'I think this win brought us back to who we were,' Coward reflected. 'Not saying we lost it, but at the same time, the last couple of games, we went on a little bit of a losing streak.But it is OK because we learned so much through those games that we were able to apply what we learned in practice yesterday and apply that practice to today's game, which is great. Everybody bought in tremendously to what we needed to do.' That’s the kind of mature, process-oriented mindset that front offices dream of finding in a 22-year-old. It’s not just about the physical tools, which are obviously there, but the disposition and attitude that the Grizzlies organization has reportedly been so impressed with since day one.He’s playing with a confidence that suggests he belongs, and his emergence is a massive storyline for a Memphis team that’s trying to establish a new identity. When your bench, powered by Coward, Santi Aldama (16 points), and Cam Spencer (12 points), combines for 49 points, you’re going to win a lot of basketball games.This victory over a Western Conference rival like Dallas feels like a potential turning point, a night where the Grizzlies didn't just stop the bleeding but rediscovered their DNA. And at the heart of it all was Cedric Coward, the rookie who’s playing with absolutely zero fear and giving Memphis fans a whole lot to be excited about for the rest of this NBA Cup run and beyond.

#Cedric Coward

#Memphis Grizzlies

#NBA Cup

#rookie performance

#bench scoring

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