The Grizzlies try to bounce back from their deplorable opening night showing as they host the Toronto Raptors tonight before heading out on a five-game West Coast road trip. A win tonight could help stablize the team, but a loss followed by a bad road trip could find the season unraveling before when it’s barely begun.
Allen Iverson practiced with the team Thursday but still looks unlikely to play tonight. Look for him to make his Griz debut on the road next week.
I will not be live-blogging tonight but will set up the usual game template here for in-game comments and will likely be making occasional commentary via my Twitter feed. You can follow me on Twitter at @ChrisHerrington.
The Raptors enter the game on a high, having won their home opener 101-91 over Lebron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. Three potential keys to tonight’s game:
1. “Interior” Defense: On Opening Night, the Grizzlies got torched by probably the league’s best-shooting guard tandem in Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon. Tonight they’ll face a different but also similar challenge: Probably the league’s best perimeter-shooting frontcourt tandem in Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani.
