Welcome To Beale Street Bears.
Howdy, Memphis Grizzlies fans, I’m Chuck Livingston. This is a new blog site that is part of the Fansided Blog Network.
My objective is to keep you posted on everything that goes on with the Grizzlies during the stretch run, through the playoffs, after the Finals and everything in between. I hope to do so in an informative, if not humorous way.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ll start off with a few facts about me. I’m Chuck Livingston, I’m born and raised in the Memphis area and nobody watches more hoops than I do. I’ve been going to Grizzlies games since the team played at The Pyramid and still think back on the Hubie Brown era fondly.
Enough with all the mushy stuff, though. Tonight the Grizzlies play the Los Angeles Clippers at FedEx Forum. If the season mysteriously ended this afternoon, the Grizzlies and Clips would play in the first round of the playoffs in the 4-5 match-up.
The Grizzlies are a team that is tough for teams to play for some reason. Maybe it’s the emphasis they put on defense, with Tony Allen and Mike Conley Jr. jumping passing lanes and Marc Gasol contesting shots.
Maybe it’s the Grizzlies’ offensive game that relies on the post prowess of Zach Randolph, rather than the explosiveness of a perimeter player. The year is 2012, but the Grizzlies’ game plan is straight out of 1989.
All that being said, the Clippers have had no such difficulty matching up with the Grizzlies during the past two seasons. The Clippers have won four straight in the series and have already clinched the tiebreaker by winning the head-to-head this season. That could be huge down the line, as the team who finishes with the 4 seed will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Clippers are going through a good stretch right now in winning 8 of 9 games to save the job of embattled head coach Vinny Del Negro. They also have an outside chance of passing their big brother, the Lakers, to win the Pacific Division.
Tonight’s game will rely, as it so often does, on Rudy Gay’s performance for the Grizzlies. Rudy is a maddeningly frustrating player on both ends of the floor. A nice cut or one-on-one move on offense, followed up by a terrible jump shot as soon as the very next possession, a key block or steal on defense followed up by a lazy, or missed rotation altogether.
The Grizzlies count on Rudy every night, but tonight him having a good game will be as important as ever. The only player the Clippers really have to guard him is Caron Butler, a solid veteran. If Rudy can’t take advantage and carry his team for stretches tonight, then the Grizzlies will be fighting uphill.
The good news is that he’s coming off his best game of the season on Saturday night against the defending world champion Dallas Mavericks. Rudy posted 25 (efficient) points, five rebounds and three assists. Quite simply, it was the kind of game you’d expect from Rudy Gay all the time, but rarely get.
As for my prediction, I think it follows the script of most of Memphis’ home games this season: The Grizzlies get off to a hot start at home, and lead by 9 at halftime. In the second half, the Clippers chip away and even take the lead in the last three minutes before the Grizzlies turn the water off and defeat Lob City.
Final Score:
Clippers: 94
Grizzlies: 96