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Ranking the Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA Seeding Games

By AJ Salah

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 21: Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies drives to the basket on Rajon Rondo #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter at Staples Center on February 21, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 21: Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies drives to the basket on Rajon Rondo #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter at Staples Center on February 21, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Memphis Grizzlies
(Photo by Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images) /

8. San Antonio Spurs, Aug 2

What otherwise would’ve been a hugely important game for the playoff race tanked with LaMarcus Aldridge’s shoulder injury.

Without their most-recent All Star, the Spurs – already playoff longshots – are effectively toast.

Basketball Reference gives San Antonio a 2.8% chance of nabbing the 8th seed. FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR forecast suggests less than 1%.

The Spurs are the NBA’s 24th-ranked team defensively; an astonishingly low mark for a Gregg Popovich squad. Sans Aldridge, they’ll struggle to maintain their fringe Top-10 offense, and stretch an already-thin frontcourt.

With such a generous play-in window for non-Grizzlies teams, every seeding game will count as a must-win for Memphis. But this one is as close to a gimme as Memphis will get.

They’ll need to take advantage and deliver a decisive win – a blowout to rest their starters wouldn’t hurt. A loss could be just cause for some early anxiety in the 901.

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