Memphis Grizzlies vs Phoenix Suns Preview

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The Grizzlies are on the road again, and tonight they will be in Phoenix to play the Suns. The game tips off at 8PM CST, so be sure to tune in at home.

Saturday night while the Grizzlies were laying the smack down on the Thunder in Memphis, the Suns were in Oakland getting a major beat down of their own at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

One might assume that such a loss would be good motivation for this Phoenix team to play harder tonight, so that they might come away with a much needed win. However it seems pretty doubtful this meeting ends with anything other than an L for the Suns. I don’t generally like to call a game against any team a sure victory for the Grizzlies, but with the way we’ve dominated Phoenix in the past, a win tonight by Memphis seems all but a foregone conclusion at this point.

It is salient to note here that the last time the Suns defeated the Grizzlies was in February 2013. I don’t think I need to tell anyone how much we’ve improved as a team since then.

The Suns have two sets of brothers on its roster right now, Marcus and Markieff Morris, and Zoran and Goran Dragic. They are talented players for sure, but they will be no match for our brothers from another mother, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

It’s been a career year for Marc in every stat category, and he recently earned the distinction of being the only Grizzlies player in franchise history to be voted into the starting lineup of the All-Star game. Nice to see the rest of the league recognizing what fans here in Memphis have known for years.

Ever since Zach Randolph returned from his knee injury, he has been hands down the most dominant player on this Grizzlies team. He’s just doing everything amazingly well, from attacking the glass on both ends, to post up scoring, to making free throws, just all of it. Hopefully we will see a continuation on this theme tonight, as well as a continuation of the consecutive double-double game streak Randolph has been on.

With Vince Carter being out of the rotation for at least the next few games, this would be a good opportunity to get rookie Jordan Adams a little more playing time. Coach Joerger seems to be trying to gradually work up the number of minutes Adams spends on the floor, which is encouraging, especially for those of us who remember a certain former coach who seemed to have an aversion to developing young players.

As long as the Grizzlies keep doing what they’ve been doing, playing lock down defense and dictating the pace of the game, tonight should be an easy win.

Aimee Stiegemeyer
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