The Grizzlies make their national television debut tonight with a 7 p.m. road game against the defending Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
With Sunday’s decisive victory over the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in the rear-view and a home national TV match-up with the undefeated New York Knicks looming next, this is shaping up to be one of the most compelling regular-season weeks in franchise history.
Both the Grizzlies and Thunder are among the current Top 10 in offense, defense, and rebounding and each sits one game behind the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference standings. But look a little deeper into their respective resumes and the Grizzlies’ start looks a little more impressive.
The Thunder are 6-2, but those six wins have come against teams with a combined 11-28 (they’ve played 0-8 Detroit twice). The Grizzlies are 5-1, with those five wins coming against teams with a combined 20-16 record.
Yet, despite playing a tougher schedule (the Grizzlies lost to the 5-2 Clippers, the Thunder to the 6-1 Spurs and 3-3 Hawks), the Grizzlies not only have a slightly better record but also a slightly higher point differential (+9.0 to OKC’s +7.1).
So that means the Grizzlies are winning this one, right? Probably not. A little shine might be off the Thunder since the Harden deal, but they’re still an elite team and are still playing at home.
Three thoughts in advance of tonight’s game:
