Grizz Look to Lockdown on Portland – Grizz vs Trail Blazers Preview

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Elizabeth Smith

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The Memphis Grizzlies are back in Portland to take on the Trail Blazers tonight in the Moda Center in Portland. In spite of icy conditions in Portland that threatened to postpone the game tonight, as of right now the game is still on as scheduled.

Trail Blazers say tonight's 7 p.m. game against Memphis is still on. Icy conditions in Portland are beginning to thaw

— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 4, 2016

Can't ever remember a Blazers home game cancelled for weather, and this isn't the storm to break that streak. No plans to postpone.

— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 4, 2016

*Damien Lillard is probable to play tonight. He has missed 7 straight games with left foot plantar fasciitis.

*In their last meeting on November 13^th, the Grizzlies pulled out a 101-100 victory on a Zach Randolph putback despite a 26 point performance by CJ McCollum. McCollum is averaging 21.7ppg this season. In his last 5 games, McCollum is averaging 27.4ppg. In fact, McCollum is only the 4^th player in the NBA this season to have 4 straight games of at least 25 points and 50% field goal percentage.

*Matt Barnes will make his return from his 2 game suspension tonight.

*Mike Conley is reported as questionable with lower back tightness. The Grizz will be without Brandan Wright and Jordan Adams (both knee issues) and James Ennis and Jarell Martin are currently on DLeague assignment with the Iowa Energy.

*Allen Crabbe is coming up big for Portland in recent games in the absence of Lillard from injury. In his last 7 games that he has started, he is averaging 16.6ppg.

*If Mike Conley does play, we can look forward to a good match between he and Lillard. Conley has traditionally gotten the best of Lillard up until this season. Against the Trail Blazers this season, Conley’s inconsistency has been on full display. He has averaged just 9ppg in their 2 meetings.

*This is the second of a 3 game road trip for the Grizz. Saturday’s OT loss to the Jazz was punctuated by missed free throws and missed wide open shot attempts. The Grizz will travel to OKC to play the Thunder on Wednesday night.

*Portland played last night in Denver in a win. On back-to-backs this season, Portland is 2-8. One of those two wins, however, was unfortunately against the Grizzlies back on November 5th.

*If the Grizz hope to take out the Blazers tonight, Marc Gasol must be aggressive for 48 minutes. We can’t see him pass up wide open easy shots to pass to someone else who inevitably misses.

*The Grizz will have to keep in mind that Meyers Leonard has hit 16 shots from beyond the arc in the last 5 games for a shooting percentage of 54.2%.

*The Grizz must rebound well and limit second chance Blazer points. The Blazers have plenty of players such as former Grizz Ed Davis who will be able to grab rebounds for second chance opportunities.

*Need I even mention free throws? PLEASE GRIZZLIES, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS. After that horrid 14/26 free throw showing on Saturday night, I would hope that they had learned their lesson.

Who: Memphis Grizzlies vs Portland Trailblazers

When: Monday, January 4, 2016 / 9:00pm CST

Where: Moda Center, Portland

How to Watch/Listen: NBA TV, Fox Sports Southeast, 92.9 ESPN Memphis Radio

*Stats via NBA.COM*