The Grizzlies have won their last six games, taking away some of the angst associated with their recent trades. Mike Conley and Tony Allen have taken on an increased role in the offense, while Marc Gasol has blocked shots occasionally on defense. New additions Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye and Ed Davis have all contributed. Quincy Pondexter is back from injury, trying to regain his early-season form. All in all, this team seems to have righted the ship as it heads towards the playoffs.
Tonight at Barclays Center, televised to a national TV audience, the Grizz take on the Nets. Brooklyn had a four-game winning streak broken Friday night at home against Houston. Overall, Brooklyn is 20-11 at home, while Memphis is 14-10 on the road. Memphis won its two road games last week, but Brooklyn is obviously a sterner test.
Memphis' offense has also stagnated a bit the last two games, with first-quarter turnovers and missed close-range shots creating a difficult environment early in those games. They'll look to get off to a better start tonight.
Joe Johnson of the Nets is struggling with plantar fasciitis, and might not play. Otherwise, look for Brook Lopez and Deron Williams to shoulder much of the scoring load for Brooklyn. Lopez is nimble enough offensively to give Gasol fits, but Lopez is an indifferent rebounder (a seven-footer averaging 7 rebs a game). Williams isn't as quick as Conley, but is bigger/stronger. He should be able to bully his way to his favorite shooting locations. However, he's shooting 41% from the floor this season.
Brooklyn averages 95.6 ppg. Memphis averages 93.7 ppg. So there's my guess for tonight - Nets 96, Memphis 94 (rounding up, of course). The Grizzlies' win streak comes to an end tonight. Memphis' turnovers early and late will aid the Nets' cause. As usual, my guesswork isn't for gaming purposes. It's only for discussion, open ridicule or bragging (where appropriate).
After tonight, next Grizzlies' game is a home contest Wednesday night against Dallas. After that, the team goes to South Beach to take on the Heat. They employ some guy named LeBron James, who's only the best player on the planet.
After the Game: Memphis 76, Brooklyn 72. Wow, I was way off, thankfully. Nice team effort on the road for Memphis. All five Grizzlies starters scored in double figures. Williams got 24 for the Nets, but only C.J. Watson (11) and Andray Blatche off the bench (10) joined Williams in double figure scoring. Lopez got 9 and 4 rebs in 26 minutes. Puzzling.
Off the Memphis bench, Pondexter hit a couple of FGs, but Bayless went 0-6 from the floor.
Brooklyn had more total rebounds than Memphis (44 to 35), more offensive rebounds (17 to 7), more assists than Memphis (18 to 16) and more steals (7 to 6), but Memphis had 11 blocked shots. For a team that normally doesn't block a lot of shots, that mitigated a bit of Brooklyn's ability to get to the rim (naturally).
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