Look Out NBA the Grizzlies Are Back on the Prowl
The Memphis Grizzlies have turned their season around and the rest of the Southwest division, the Western Conference and the NBA better look out.
The Grizzlies are 24-20 and eight games behind the San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest, but have won 4 straight including two big wins over the Houston Rockets, one against the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
The Grizzlies are now just a ½ game behind Dallas for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoff hunt with nearly half the season left to play. Memphis has won 10 of their past 12 games.
Memphis fell back in the standings for much of the first half of the season due to injuries to key players like big man Marc Gasol and getting used to a new coach and new players.
The trademark defense has returned, as they held the high scoring Rockets to just 87 points in a win last Thursday and 81 points in a win on Saturday. Against Portland, the Grizzlies gave up just 81 points and allowed only 89 against Sacramento.
Since Gasol returned, the Grizzlies are 7-1 including big wins over the Rockets, Trail Blazers and the conference leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
Courtney Lee the team’s new shooting guard who was acquired on January 7 from the Boston Celtics has been a great addition to the team. He has replaced Quincy Pondexter who is out injured.
Since the arrival of Lee, Memphis is 9-2 and scoring nearly 97 points per game, which is a full point higher than they are averaging this season.
Lee has averaged 15 points per game since joining the Grizzlies behind just Mike Conley and team leader Zach Randolph.
The Memphis bench has played exceptionally well outscoring Houston 44-27 in their last meeting.
Memphis plays best in a half court set and can grind out its victories. The team is about tough defense and setting up their offense and using the 24-second clock to its advantage making the game shorter and the points lower.
Of course, this is just a dozen games out of 82, but with Gasol back healthy, Randolph and Conley scoring and the addition of Lee, the Grizzlies look to be ready to climb the ladder in the West the second half of the season.
At the same time, the San Antonio Spurs are allowing the rest of the division to narrow the gap at the top. The Spurs have lost three straight, are 5-5 over their past 10 and are riddled with injuries. Manu Ginobili will miss the next three weeks with a hamstring injury, while Danny Green and Tiago Splitter have both missed numerous games.
The Rockets have won 2 straight and 7 of 10, but their defense has been suspect. If shooters James Harden and Chandler Parsons have an off night, their high-powered offense sputters as well.
All this indicates the second half of the season will turn into a dogfight between these top three teams in the division.
