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Happy Groundhog Day! Following a frustrating 3-point home loss to the Heat the Cavs get a day off before hosting the 33-18 Memphis Grizzlies, who are in second place in the West. The Grizzlies are the better team, however, the Cavs have a couple of advantages.
One, they’re at home (21-6) while the Grizzlies are on the road (11-15). Two, the Cavs were off yesterday following a home game while the Grizzlies played last night in Memphis, losing to Portland 122-112. Portland outscored the Grizzlies 38-22 in the 4th quarter to come from behind. Portland was 10-15 on the road.
The Grizzlies are an incredible 21-4 at home so they are almost two completely different teams depending on where they play. For that reason I will use only their road stats in this preview. The Grizzlies have lost their last five road games while winning nine in a row at home before last night.
Starting center Steven Adams is out; he averages 8.5 points and 11 rebounds. Adams in second on the team in on/off at +8.8. Adams is a mauler on the offensive glass, ranking in the top 3% of centers in offensive rebound percentage. Offensive rebounding is key to the Grizzlies’ offense. The Grizzlies are 1-4 since losing Adams.
John Konchar ranks 4th in on/off at +6.7 and he is a game time decision. He was a +13 in 13 minutes in the first game.
The Grizzlies beat the Cavs 115-114 in Memphis two weeks ago. The Grizzlies had Adams (13 points, 5 offensive rebounds) but the Cavs did not have Donovan Mitchell; that will be reversed tonight. The Cavs allowed a 20-0 run in the second quarter and also went 14-for-21 from the foul line in a one-point loss.
The Cavs’ bench only scored 18 points as Love was 1-for-5 on 3’s with four uncontested misses. The Cavs allowed 58 points in the paint and fell apart in the last two minutes as Garland missed three shots and there was a five-second violation on an inbound pass from their own baseline.
Ja Morant is averaging 27.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists on the road. He shoots 48% from the field and 32% on 3’s. Desmond Bane, who led the Grizzlies with 25 points in the first game, has a line of 22/5/4. SF Dillon Brooks averages 16 points and 7 rebounds. PF Jaren Jackson, Jr averages 16 points and 6 rebounds on 48% shooting. The 6’11” Jackson is a DPOY candidate. He had four blocks in the first game against the Cavs and 6 last night.
With Adams out the Grizzlies started 6’8”, 245-pound Xavier Tillman at center last night. Tillman was a 2nd round pick in 2021 who averages 5 points in 12 minutes. Brandon Clarke, a 6’8” forward, averages 10 points off the bench at 61% and 50% on 3’s.
The Grizzlies have a lot of length - their starting lineup tonight (even without Adams) will go 6’3”, 6’5”, 6’7”, 6’11”, and 6’11”.
On the road the Grizzlies rank 22nd in offensive efficiency but 10th in points per game. One reason why they score better than they shoot is offensive rebounding; they are 2nd in offensive rebound percentage, which results in their also ranking 2nd in shot attempts per game. They make up for below average accuracy with high shot volume.
However, Adams averages 5.1 offensive boards per game, which is almost 40% of the team’s total (in only 27 minutes). The next highest player gets 1.9. So with Adams out their offensive rebounding takes a big hit.
The Grizzlies lead the NBA in points in the paint, but again, the loss of Adams will affect that. Tillman is a pretty good offensive rebounder and he’s the same size as Bam Adebayo, who abused Jarrett Allen for seven offensive boards two nights ago, so Allen really needs to focus on boxing out. The Grizzlies had 15 offensive rebounds in a one-point win the first time these teams played.
The Grizzlies are 24th in 3’s attempted and 24th in 3-point percentage (33.8%) on the road. They prefer the short mid-range shot (4-14 feet) where they lead the league in attempts and are 11th in accuracy. Surprisingly they are just 27th in accuracy at the rim despite all that height, but they excel at the short jumpers.
The key is to defend the paint and prevent offensive rebounds. The Cavs allowed 58 points in the paint to these guys two weeks ago. With Adams out that number should, and needs to, go down.
Defensively the Grizzlies are 4th in efficiency on the road. They defend the paint really well with Jackson’s length and shot blocking ability. They are 3rd in opponents’ points in the paint and 25th in opponents’ 3-point percentage, so this is one team we may want to shoot more 3’s against. The Cavs were 16-for-35 on 3’s against them two weeks ago on the road, and that was without Mitchell. Garland, LeVert and Okoro combined to go 13-for-22 from deep.
Between a west coast road trip and the loss of Adams the Grizzlies have been struggling. They’ve lost 6 of their last 7. Over the last two weeks cleaningtheglass.com ranks them 23rd offensively and 15th defensively. We seem to be catching them at the right time. They’re not a good road team to begin with, they’re on the second night of a back-to-back with late travel last night, and they’re missing a key big man.
Since the Cavs lost by one point in Memphis two weeks ago the Cavs have added Mitchell, Rubio, and Wade while the Grizzlies lost Steven Adams. Combine that with the Grizzlies 11-15 road record and having to play on the second night of a back-to-back and it seems the Cavs have a great chance for a win. But all that goes out the window if they shoot 27% from deep while the Grizzlies shoot 50%. We’ll just have to see what happens.
I would not be surprised if the Grizzlies, who are shooting just under 34% from deep on the road, hit 50% tonight. That’s been happening a lot and I think the Cavs may need to tweak their defense a bit.
The Cavaliers have allowed their opponents to shoot better from deep than the field…eight times since Dec. 23.- cleveland.com
One, they’re at home (21-6) while the Grizzlies are on the road (11-15). Two, the Cavs were off yesterday following a home game while the Grizzlies played last night in Memphis, losing to Portland 122-112. Portland outscored the Grizzlies 38-22 in the 4th quarter to come from behind. Portland was 10-15 on the road.
The Grizzlies are an incredible 21-4 at home so they are almost two completely different teams depending on where they play. For that reason I will use only their road stats in this preview. The Grizzlies have lost their last five road games while winning nine in a row at home before last night.
Starting center Steven Adams is out; he averages 8.5 points and 11 rebounds. Adams in second on the team in on/off at +8.8. Adams is a mauler on the offensive glass, ranking in the top 3% of centers in offensive rebound percentage. Offensive rebounding is key to the Grizzlies’ offense. The Grizzlies are 1-4 since losing Adams.
John Konchar ranks 4th in on/off at +6.7 and he is a game time decision. He was a +13 in 13 minutes in the first game.
The Grizzlies beat the Cavs 115-114 in Memphis two weeks ago. The Grizzlies had Adams (13 points, 5 offensive rebounds) but the Cavs did not have Donovan Mitchell; that will be reversed tonight. The Cavs allowed a 20-0 run in the second quarter and also went 14-for-21 from the foul line in a one-point loss.
The Cavs’ bench only scored 18 points as Love was 1-for-5 on 3’s with four uncontested misses. The Cavs allowed 58 points in the paint and fell apart in the last two minutes as Garland missed three shots and there was a five-second violation on an inbound pass from their own baseline.
Ja Morant is averaging 27.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists on the road. He shoots 48% from the field and 32% on 3’s. Desmond Bane, who led the Grizzlies with 25 points in the first game, has a line of 22/5/4. SF Dillon Brooks averages 16 points and 7 rebounds. PF Jaren Jackson, Jr averages 16 points and 6 rebounds on 48% shooting. The 6’11” Jackson is a DPOY candidate. He had four blocks in the first game against the Cavs and 6 last night.
With Adams out the Grizzlies started 6’8”, 245-pound Xavier Tillman at center last night. Tillman was a 2nd round pick in 2021 who averages 5 points in 12 minutes. Brandon Clarke, a 6’8” forward, averages 10 points off the bench at 61% and 50% on 3’s.
The Grizzlies have a lot of length - their starting lineup tonight (even without Adams) will go 6’3”, 6’5”, 6’7”, 6’11”, and 6’11”.
On the road the Grizzlies rank 22nd in offensive efficiency but 10th in points per game. One reason why they score better than they shoot is offensive rebounding; they are 2nd in offensive rebound percentage, which results in their also ranking 2nd in shot attempts per game. They make up for below average accuracy with high shot volume.
However, Adams averages 5.1 offensive boards per game, which is almost 40% of the team’s total (in only 27 minutes). The next highest player gets 1.9. So with Adams out their offensive rebounding takes a big hit.
The Grizzlies lead the NBA in points in the paint, but again, the loss of Adams will affect that. Tillman is a pretty good offensive rebounder and he’s the same size as Bam Adebayo, who abused Jarrett Allen for seven offensive boards two nights ago, so Allen really needs to focus on boxing out. The Grizzlies had 15 offensive rebounds in a one-point win the first time these teams played.
The Grizzlies are 24th in 3’s attempted and 24th in 3-point percentage (33.8%) on the road. They prefer the short mid-range shot (4-14 feet) where they lead the league in attempts and are 11th in accuracy. Surprisingly they are just 27th in accuracy at the rim despite all that height, but they excel at the short jumpers.
The key is to defend the paint and prevent offensive rebounds. The Cavs allowed 58 points in the paint to these guys two weeks ago. With Adams out that number should, and needs to, go down.
Defensively the Grizzlies are 4th in efficiency on the road. They defend the paint really well with Jackson’s length and shot blocking ability. They are 3rd in opponents’ points in the paint and 25th in opponents’ 3-point percentage, so this is one team we may want to shoot more 3’s against. The Cavs were 16-for-35 on 3’s against them two weeks ago on the road, and that was without Mitchell. Garland, LeVert and Okoro combined to go 13-for-22 from deep.
Between a west coast road trip and the loss of Adams the Grizzlies have been struggling. They’ve lost 6 of their last 7. Over the last two weeks cleaningtheglass.com ranks them 23rd offensively and 15th defensively. We seem to be catching them at the right time. They’re not a good road team to begin with, they’re on the second night of a back-to-back with late travel last night, and they’re missing a key big man.
Since the Cavs lost by one point in Memphis two weeks ago the Cavs have added Mitchell, Rubio, and Wade while the Grizzlies lost Steven Adams. Combine that with the Grizzlies 11-15 road record and having to play on the second night of a back-to-back and it seems the Cavs have a great chance for a win. But all that goes out the window if they shoot 27% from deep while the Grizzlies shoot 50%. We’ll just have to see what happens.
I would not be surprised if the Grizzlies, who are shooting just under 34% from deep on the road, hit 50% tonight. That’s been happening a lot and I think the Cavs may need to tweak their defense a bit.
The Cavaliers have allowed their opponents to shoot better from deep than the field…eight times since Dec. 23.- cleveland.com
