Staying Afloat: Grizzlies vs. Trailblazers Preview

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Carmen Patton

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Tonight the Memphis Grizzlies will face the Portland Trailblazers for the 2nd time this season. These teams first saw each other in Memphis on November 6, and the Grizzlies were dealt a Sunday afternoon loss at Fed Ex Forum when the Trailblazers topped them 100-94. Since then the Trailblazers have hovered around the .500 mark and the Grizzlies have lost some valuable pieces to their puzzle to injury.

The Grizzlies are at game 2 of their home stand this week. They’re currently 4-0 for the month of December. The Trailblazers faced the Bucks in Milwaukee last night, and left with a loss after falling 115-107. The Trailblazers are 3-2 over their last 5 games; the Grizzlies are 4-1.

The last time these two teams saw each other CJ McCollum tied his career high with a game high of 37 points going 13-23 from the field (56.5%) and 6-12 from three (50%). Damian Lillard and Mo Harkless followed and chipped in 19 and 18 points, respectively. Their bench’s efforts were relatively non-existent to their win offensively. The Grizzlies were led in scoring by Marc Gasol (21), Mike Conley (16), and Zach Randolph (15). This was also Chandler Parsons’ first game in a Grizzlies uniform, and for those who don’t remember how that went, be ever so grateful (0-8).

In the previous match-up, the Grizzlies were better on the glass (44 to 37), had more steals (9 to 7) and fewer turnovers (13 to 15). The Trailblazers, however, shot better (45.1% to 38.3%), connected on more 3 point shots (42.4% to 23.1%), and had more assists (19 to 15). How do they look head to head tonight?

Head to Head

Record: Grizzlies 15-8 (8-4 at home); Trailblazers 12-11 (5-7 on the road; 0-4 on 2nd night of back to back)

Avg Points: Grizzlies 98; Trailblazers 110

Avg Points Allowed: Grizzlies 98; Trailblazers 112

FG%: Grizzlies 42%; Trailblazers 46%

3PFG%: Grizzlies 33%; Trailblazers 37%

FT%: Grizzlies 78%; Trailblazers 80%

Rebounds: Grizzlies 43.1; Trailblazers 42.6

Assists: Grizzlies 20.1; Trailblazers 22.6

Steals: Grizzlies 8.5; Trailblazers 7.0

Blocks: Grizzlies 5.5; Trailblazers 4.9

Turnovers: Grizzlies 13.9; Trailblazers 13.3

The Grizzlies have managed to fair pretty well despite injuries plaguing the team and playing with mostly younger players that are still developing their game. Tonight’s game and the ones following are where the rubber will meet the road. It’s fair to say that they’ve won the games that they should’ve won. However, it’s also fair to say that given injuries (and personal leave) to key role players, none of those games were a given, and they were fought for and earned.

Earlier this week I caught a discussion between Rachel Nichols and Amin Elhassan on ESPN where he’s basically not buying into the Grizzlies success right now. They’re at a point where it’s time to show and prove. Tonight is a start against a team that many think are better than the Grizzlies despite their records. What do they do?

Catch the home team tonight to find out. Tip off at 7 p.m. Go Grizz!