It's a "good news/bad news" situation surrounding the Grizzlies lately.
Good news: the team is percentage points ahead of Denver and the Clippers as of Friday morning. Bad news: Denver has won 14 in a row, and plays at Sacramento on Saturday.
Good news: Gasol's all-around play has buoyed the team lately, and excited the fans as well. Bad news: Arthur is still day-to-day with a sore back & neck.
Good news: Bayless (when he's making shots) has given the team much-needed scoring from the bench. Bad news: when Bayless plays, Allen sits. Bayless isn't nearly the defender Allen is, and Bayless is a notorious ball-stopper on offense (especially when he isn't making shots).
Good news: the Hornets have lost 4 of their last 5 games. Bad news: they always seem to match up well with Memphis.
The Hornets beat Boston Wednesday night on a last-second tip-in (sound familiar?). Anthony Davis made the late play, and is quietly having a decent rookie year.
As usual, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson are the outside threats, while Robin Lopez and Davis do work inside. Greivis Vasquez is the offensive ringmaster for the Hornets, and I'll again watch closely the matchup between him and Conley.
My guess for Friday night: Memphis 93, New Orleans 85. Gasol and Lopez will be fun to watch as they battle in the post. I hope to see Bayless move the ball via the pass more, and not spend so much time aimlessly dribbling around. I also would like to see Allen be a bit more productive on offense, so teams stop sagging off him defensively.
As always, these guesses aren't for gaming purposes. They are in lieu of doing NCAA tournament brackets.
After the Game: New Orleans 90, Memphis 83. Good news: Memphis won the first and fourth quarters. Bad news: they lost the second and third quarters so badly they couldn't make up the deficit. As a Memphis fan, this was a bad game to watch.
For Memphis, 30 field goals, 14 assists, 11 turnovers. Conley got 20 and 4 assists, but went 5/13 FG/A. Gasol got 16, but only 6 rebounds. Randolph got 14 and 9 rebs, but struggled defensively, especially boxing out. He looks worn on the floor, a half step slow on defense and resorting to fussing at referees when he doesn't get foul calls.
For New Orleans, 36 field goals, 19 assists, 15 turnovers. Lopez scored 23, and added 10 rebs (6 offensive). Davis scored 18, and added 15 rebs (5 offensive). The offensive rebounds/second chance points made all the difference. New Orleans showed more energy and determination to win those battles. Memphis didn't. Overall, New Orleans out-rebounded Memphis 49-33.
Good news is Arthur came back to the lineup. Bad news is he isn't completely back to prime condition.
Good news for Saturday night is the Grizzlies are home to take on Boston, who lost Friday night at Dallas. Bad news might be Memphis not summoning enough energy on the back end of this back-to-back to get a much-needed win.
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