Grizzlies grinding their way toward top of West

Don’t look now, but the Memphis Grizzlies are just three games behind the Golden State Warriors for the top seed in the Western Conference. After going into the All-Star break on a sour note thanks to a shellacking at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Grizzlies have come out of the break with two impressive road victories.

The first was a thrilling 98-92 comeback win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Memphis trailed by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies outscored the Blazers 34-15 in the final frame to come up with the victory. MVP candidate Marc Gasol scored a team-high 21 points, with eight of those coming in the deciding frame.

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Portland was without LaMarcus Aldridge due to a right thumb injury, but going into the Moda Center and coming back from a double-digit point deficit in the fourth quarter is still mighty impressive. In typical grindy fashion, the Grizzlies’ defense clamped down when needed to help secure the win, but credit has to be given to the offense has well.

The very next night, Memphis was grinding again, eking out a narrow 90-87 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Like the Blazers, the Clippers were without one of their best players in Blake Griffin, but Los Angeles had been playing well without Griffin. Furthermore, the fact that the Grizzlies were on the back end of a tough back-to-back made this game even more difficult.

This one was a rather ugly affair, as both offenses struggled. Memphis had just 38 points at halftime, but the offense turned it around just enough in the second half to pull out the victory. The Grizzlies nearly blew a late eight-point lead thanks to a series of empty offensive possessions, but Mike Conley saved the day when he picked Chris Paul’s pocket in the final seconds. Paul had dominated much of the game, but Conley still had a solid performance himself and had the last laugh.

Memphis is 41-14 on the season and 15-3 since acquiring Jeff Green from the Boston Celtics. But while it would be easy to say Green has made a huge difference, he really hasn’t. The forward has been just okay, and the Grizzlies have been significantly better with him on the bench. One big reason is the dynamite play of the second unit, with guys like Tony Allen, Nick Calathes and Kosta Koufos really stepping up, especially defensively.

Thanks to the recent defensive dominance, Memphis is now fifth in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com. If this keeps up, the Grizzlies can beat anybody in a playoff series, as long as the offense is respectable enough. Memphis currently has the third-best odds in the West to win the 2015 NBA title at 9/1, behind only the Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder, per Bovada. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks both have better odds to win it all than the Grizzlies, and the Chicago Bulls also have 9/1 odds to win the championship.