Gasol hurt by baffling 4th-quarter benching: 'You take it personally'

Marc Gasol doesn't know why he was benched in the fourth quarter, and he's not happy about it.

The Memphis Grizzlies star was held out down the stretch Sunday when his team was rallying against the Brooklyn Nets, and could do nothing but watch as his men suffered their eighth straight defeat.

"You take it personally," Gasol said following the 98-88 loss, as quoted by The Associated Press.

Gasol checked out with 3:05 remaining in the third quarter with his team trailing by 17 points. He expected to sub back in when the Grizzlies got back in the game, but even as they shaved the deficit to five points with eight minutes to go, their best player remained on the pine.

"I do not know the why," the three-time All-Star said of not playing down the stretch. He added: "It's a first for me, trust me, and I don't like it one bit. I'm more (ticked) than I can show and frustrated. ...

"If I'm not on the floor, then I'm not valued. I'm sure (the coaching staff) knew that would hurt me the most."

Despite not closing out the game, the 32-year-old center registered a team-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds in 28 minutes.

Head coach David Fizdale said the decision to keep Gasol out late in the contes was "nothing against him," and was instead an effort to keep the momentum going with the reserves who had cut Brooklyn's lead.

That didn't work out, and now Gasol is even more upset. Four games into Memphis' current skid, the former Defensive Player of the Year called out his teammates for their "embarrassing and sad" lack of defensive consistency over 48 minutes.

Memphis (7-12) has fallen to 12th in the Western Conference, having dropped all seven games without point guard Mike Conley, who's out indefinitely with a sore left Achilles tendon.

The Grizzlies, who are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time in eight years, will try to bounce back Wednesday versus the San Antonio Spurs.