Can The Memphis Grizzlies Frontline Stop Anthony Davis?

The Memphis Grizzlies will look to utilize their frontline to contain Anthony Davis in order to get the win against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Anthony Davis came into this season being mentioned among a number of popular NBA MVP candidates including Stephen Curry, James Harden and LeBron James.

His numbers haven’t been too shabby either. He’s put up averages of 23.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game with a PER of 25.65.

All of those numbers are exceptional for any player, but fans and analysts expected more from the New Orleans Pelicans this season. The team has gotten off to a 4-13 start and doesn’t seem to have an easy task digging out of this hole in the tough Western Conference.

The Memphis Grizzlies have held their own after their own bad start. After beginning the season 3-6 the Grizzlies have gone 7-2 in their last nine games and look to have put the worst behind them.

Now they will go up against a Pelicans team desperate for a win, and matching up against Davis isn’t anything to joke about.

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Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph will have their hands full dealing with Davis both down low and on the perimeter. Gasol is the more mobile defender of the two and will likely be given the task of guarding Davis, but that also takes the team’s best shot blocker and low-post defender out of the paint.

Randolph can be a physical presence down low but he doesn’t have the length and athleticism to protect the rim like Gasol does. Not only that but Randolph will also have a bigger post player to guard like Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, two larger guys who will give Z-Bo problems if he lets them get close enough to the basket.

One solution to the problem might be playing Jeff Green at the four and letting him take a crack at guarding Davis, leaving Gasol down low to protect the rim. However, Green isn’t the best of defenders and he doesn’t have the height to be a good cover on AD.

Either way, Davis presents most teams problems with how to scheme defensively. Whether Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger will play a lot of man-to-man or zone against the Pelicans remains to be seen, but this won’t be as easy of a game as going up against a 4-13 team should be.

In the end, I think Mike Conley and the rest of the perimeter unit will outplay the Pelicans’ guards and take over the game. Tyreke Evans is scheduled to return for New Orleans but he may not be enough to offset the recent play of Courtney Lee and Mario Chalmers.

This is Memphis’ game to lose, but they can’t take this one for granted. Davis is a superstar for a reason.

Prediction: Grizzlies 102 Pelicans 100