May the Force Be With Us: Grizzlies vs. Hornets Preview

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Carmen Patton

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Tonight the Memphis Grizzlies will face the Charlotte Hornets at Fed Ex Forum in a Star Wars themed giveaway night complete with Tony Allen Jedi Robes to the first 3,000 fans through the doors. The Grizzlies (13-10) are coming off a lucky win to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday in Detroit after succumbing in their worst home loss in franchise history to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. The Hornets (13-8) last played on Wednesday as well and beat the Miami Heat 99-81. In their last 3 games, the Hornets have limited their opponents to an average of 39% FG shooting and 87 points per game. Statistically, the game looks to be in the Hornets favor. However, the home team hasn’t lost to the Charlotte team in Memphis since February 2010. In recent years, they’ve always seemed to be able to pull out the win against the Charlotte team at home. In fact, they’ve only lost one of the last seven meetings, period. These teams last saw each other almost a year to the day (December 12, 2014) in a double OT thrilling win in Memphis.

Keeping the Force with Memphis:

Contain Nicholas Batum

The Grizzlies and Nicholas Batum are no strangers. Batum, in his first year with the Hornets, faced the Grizzlies many times as a Portland Trailblazer. Batum, however, seems to be settling in quite well with his new team. In the last two games, Batum connected on only 7 of 24 shots, but he managed to have 19 assists and 18 rebounds. The Grizzlies managed to hold Batum to a FG % of 33.8%, a 3 point % of 22.6%, and 8.1 points in their last 8 games against the Trailblazers. The Hornets are singing his praises right now for his passing ability and his ability to make things happen for them offensively. The Grizzlies need to mute that praise for tonight.

Stay in the Game in the 2^nd and 3^rd Quarter

The Grizzlies have been outscored by their opponents in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters in the last 4 games. Games against elite teams like the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder have seen MAJOR collapses. Against the Phoenix Suns and the Detroit Pistons, the collapse wasn’t as great and the Grizzlies were able to bounce back and win. However, against the elite teams, the collapse has been too hard to overcome. While this Charlotte Hornets team wouldn’t likely be included in an elite team conversation, they are currently ranked 2^nd in the Eastern Conference and 5^th in the league. So, the Grizzlies do well to stay on point all 48 minutes.

Get the Offense Right and the Defense Tight

Turnovers have increased with each game in December. They started with 6 against the Pelicans, increased to 11 against the Spurs, 12 against the Suns, 15 against the Thunder and 17 against the Pistons. Ball control tonight has to be better. The Grizzlies have also become bedfellows with missed free throws again. As tight as the Grizzlies are playing their opponents lately, they need to be as close to perfect as they can be at the charity stripe. Rebounding has been another issue this season, but the Grizzlies seemed to right the ship on Wednesday night. Against a high rebounding Pistons team, the Grizzlies outrebounded them 53 to 43. Hopefully the interior dominance that the Grizzlies were once known for is making its presence known again. Perimeter shooting continues to be an issue. The Grizzlies have shot under 25% from three in the last 6 games and haven’t made more than 5 three point shots in the last 6 games. Tonight would be a really good night to try to make some good things happen on the perimeter.

Defensively the Grizzlies have been stagnant lately. Their offense, for some reason, is eerily tied to their defense this season. When things are going wrong on one end, it trickles over to the other. This is becoming a dead horse to beat, but it must be beat anyway: The Grizzlies MUST stay committed to defense no matter what is or isn’t happening on the offensive end.

Tonight should be a lot of fun for Grizzlies fans, particularly if they’re Star Wars fans too. If you’re looking to get one of those Tony Allen First Team All Jedi robes, you probably should be in route to the Forum sooner rather than later. Let’s stay committed to the home team no matter what. If you can’t make it to the Grindhouse, be sure to tune in at 7 p.m. and watch or follow the game on the Grizzlies app. May the Force be with US…Go Grizz!

*Statistics from nba.com and landofbasketball.com*

*Jedi robe photo courtesy of Memphis Grizzlies website*