Let’s Do Some Work: Portland at Memphis Preview
Tonight the Memphis Grizzlies face off against the Portland Trailblazers. This is their final home game before the All-Star break. After losing to the Mavericks on Saturday the Grizzlies are going to be looking to get back onto a win streak to advance their two and a half game lead on the Mavericks in the Conference standings. While Memphis has remained a solid 5th seed, the Trailblazers are one of the many teams vying for the final spaces in Western Conference seeding. With a 25-27 record they are nipping at the heels of the Jazz to take the 8th seed.
The Trailblazers have had their struggles against Memphis. Last season Memphis took the series against the Trailblazers 4-0. So far this season the Grizzlies lead the head-to-head 2-1 and their last meeting resulted in a 91-78 win. Portland is on a 7-3 streak in their last 10. With every win bringing them closer to playoff positioning expect the Lilliard/McCollum backcourt to try for a high scoring and fast-paced game. Memphis’ key objectives will be to play at their pace and keep their minds on defense. It is well known that Memphis is able to create their offense from their defense. Tonight’s game is going to rely on that.
What to watch:
Zach Randolph:
Zach Randolph is good against his old team. In the last matchup Randolph came off the bench to score 26 points and grab 18 rebounds. That’s a hell of a performance. Against the Trailblazers he averages 19 points per game and 12 rebounds. That’s a bit over his season average of 13.9 and 8.1. The Grizzlies big man will be key in keeping this game at the pace Memphis needs it to be to win. We’re talking mud-pace. Tonight the Grizzlies will need Randolph, Mr. 50-for-the-City, to have one of his stand-out performances. Randolph continues to be able to carry this team, whether it’s in the starting line-up or from the bench. Get ready for some good-ole physical play.
Keeping it 100:
When Memphis scores 100 points or more it is a good thing. (Duh, right?) In their wins this season the Grizzlies have averaged 103.4 points per game. Memphis has finally started to find it’s way into a rhythm. We have seen them begin to couple their strong defensive presence with making shots outside. Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, Matt Barnes, Mario Chalmers, and even Vince Carter have become greater weapons than earlier in the season. While making an offensive impact is going to be important the Grizzlies are cautious to not fall in love with the three-point line. They actually shoot more threes in their losses than they do their wins. See: Saturday night’s Overtime game. The Grizzlies shot 23 three-pointers. They connected 9 of them for 39.1% shooting BUT the Grizzlies also outscored the Mavericks 56-26 in the paint. One might ask why we kept shooting threes when their was obvious domination down low. Let’s hope that tonight Memphis takes the quality, open shots while focusing on ball movement and defense to boost them above 100 points.
Defense:
Just like every Grizzlies win the defense must be at the forefront of game play. Damien Lillard and C.J. McCollum are combining for 44.8 points per game. Against the Grizzlies McCollum has been able to continue his success, averaging right around his season average of 20.8 points per game. Lillard has been held to 18.4 points per game. Lillard was coming back from an injury during the last meeting of these two teams. Why do I bring that up? Because his most recent 17 point performance against the Grizzlies could very well not be an accurate assessment of what his performance could be tonight. The Trailblazers have options to allow them to be a very balanced scoring team. With guys like Allen Crabbe, Myers Leonard, Mason Plumlee and Al-Farouq Amin the Trailblazers have the ability to find scoring when they need it. It’s going to be up to Memphis to play lock-down defense on a team that is 8th in the league in offensive efficiency. If they can keep the aggressive Portland backcourt from running up the score and force the remaining team into contested, tough shots the Grizzlies are sure to finish out the series against Portland 3-1.
Tune into the game on FoxSports Southeast at 7 p.m. or grab a ticket and make your way to the Grindhouse!
**Update: Marc Gasol is listed as Questionable for tonight’s game.
Injury Update- @memgrizz list Marc Gasol as Questionable with a Sore Right Foot against @trailblazers tonight.
7pm on @FOXSportsSE— Rob Fischer (@thefishnation) February 8, 2016
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