The Grizzlies return home for a big one tonight against the Golden State Warriors, a team only half a game back of the Grizzlies in the Western Conference playoff standings.
As always, when time permits, three thoughts:
1. Meeting Down at the Crossroads: These two teams have both struggled after strong starts. After opening 14-3, the Grizzlies have gone 16-15 since. The Warriors started 21-10 and have gone 9-9 since. And these declines have happened for reasons that are simultaneously similar and divergent.
For the Grizzlies, the great early start was driven by an unexpectedly and perhaps unsustainably explosive offense that garnered lots of national attention. That offense has now slid — and had plummeted well before the recent trades — from the Top 5 to 23rd in points per 100 possessions. For the Warriors, long a defensive sieve, it was a surprisingly — and perhaps unsustainably — stingy defense, even in the absence of center Andrew Bogut, that drove their rise up the standings. That defense has now tumbled from the Top 10 down to 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions.
2. Defending the Three: For the Grizzlies however, defense has actually been a bigger problem than offense of late. They gave up 10-24 three-point shooting to Atlanta in Wednesday night’s loss, much of that in transition. If that doesn’t tighten up tonight it could get ugly against a Warriors team that leads the NBA in three-point percentage at 39% (Atlanta is fourth at 38%).
