After Monday night's loss at Washington, the Grizzlies get another chance against the Eastern Conference. The Knicks won Tuesday night in Boston, and host the Grizzlies on the back end of this back-to-back. Their last back to back was a sweep of Toronto (away, then home) on 22-23 March.
New York is 24-10 at home, and has won its last five games overall. They lead the Atlantic Division by 2.5 games over Brooklyn, and are tied with Indiana for second place overall in the Eastern Conference.
Tuesday night, J.R. Smith (32 points) and Carmelo Anthony (29) led the way in a 15-point win in Boston. Anthony took 30 shots to do it, missing 20. Smith comes off the bench firing, hoisting 24 FGA of his own. Two guys, 54 of the team's 90 FGAs. Those two should have iced their forearms and elbows post-game, similar to baseball pitchers.
The rest of the roster scores on run-outs, offensive rebounds and Steve Novak 3-point FGAs. Other than the two gunners, no one else scored in double figures Tuesday night. The Knicks had 39 FGs, 11 assists and 8 turnovers. Smells like a lot of iso or one-pass/quick shot in the New York offensive arsenal.
New York has key players still out with injury (Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, Kurt Thomas, Rasheed Wallace). Recent signee Kenyon Martin has brought high energy and a physical presence off the bench. New York has an experienced (read "older") roster, so coach Mike Woodson rested some guys late in the Tuesday night game when the result was in hand.
Memphis is in fifth place in the Western Conference, half a game behind the Clippers (who lost in overtime at Dallas Tuesday night). Memphis will have a difficult night in Gotham, because 1) Anthony will probably shoot better than 10-30, 2) New York likes to run, and 3) Bayless will probably think he has an advantage against Ray Felton, Iman Shumpert, Jason Kidd, etc.
With Gasol out and Randolph showing the effects of a long season, it's even more imperative that Conley and Bayless get teammates involved offensively. If Conley and Bayless take most of the shots, that means (yet again) the offense has ground to a halt. Guys like Ed Davis, Darrell Arthur and Quincy Pondexter need touches when they are on the floor.
When they play as a team on both ends, Memphis can win anywhere. When they don't, they look bad in losses. Guards forcing bad shots late in the shot clock, without teammates in position to compete for offensive rebounds, is ugly offensive basketball. Memphis had been doing that lately. Stop it!
My guess: New York 102, Memphis 91. New York isn't a great offensive rebounding team, but they are gonna make a point of doing it tonight. In its recent slump, Memphis has shown a propensity to allow opponents to get offensive rebounds/second chance points. In addition, Anthony's gonna get his points. Smith will jack up a bunch of shots as well. Bayless will come into the game firing, but missing.
After the Game: New York 108, Memphis 101. Memphis was down 28 at the half (yeah, 69-41). Late in the 4th, the Grizzlies cut the lead to 103-99, but couldn't get over the hump. Lack of interior defense & an offense with too much standing around meant another loss for Memphis.
For the Grizz, 33 field goals, 14 assists, 16 turnovers. This isn't the team that had 14 wins in a 15-game stretch in February. Dare I say, the team looks mentally fatigued and possibly physically fatigued as well.
Again, the backcourt took most of the shots. Conley had 26, with 6 assists and only 2 turnovers. Bayless had 24, but no assists and 4 turnovers. These two took 33 of the 70 FGA (Bayless with 17 shots, Conley with 16). Conley went 2/8 in 3-point FG/FGA. Gasol got 7 shots in 36 minutes, Randolph got 3 shots in 25 minutes. Not the recipe for Memphis offensive success. The offense is most effective when Gasol is the hub, dishing the ball to teammates cutting to the basket or hitting that 15-foot set shot. Coach Hollins has to know that, right?
For the Knicks, it was 38 field goals, 18 assists and 11 turnovers. J.R. Smith came off the bench to score 35 and added 7 rebs. Anthony added 22 (with another 7 rebs), and Shumpert had 16. Felton had 13, 4 assists and only two turnovers. Jason Kidd hit a key 3-pointer plus the foul on the shot that turned out to be the dagger (when Memphis was down 4 at the end of the 4th).
Losses in both games of this two-game trip mean Friday night's home game against Houston is a must-win. But, I don't think Memphis has the juice now to run with Houston. After the home game, Memphis goes to Minneapolis Saturday to take on the Timberwolves. Uh-oh.
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