No. 1: Team Consistency
A big concern heading into the game, as I mentioned earlier, is how consistent the Grizzlies will be playing. With Tyus Jones still out of the rotation due to injury, Memphis will be putting a lot of pressure on Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, and Grayson Allen to perform well in that one guard spot.
Typically, Memphis won’t have to worry about Morant, but Brooks and Allen have shown to be incredibly streaking during the bubble games. In their final scrimmage against the Miami Heat, the Grizzlies hit around 50% of their 3-point shots, and a big reason for this was the shooting from Brooks. However, in their game against the Blazers, Brooks had trouble making his shots, and at times was taking very ill-advised 3’s.
Memphis will also need to have Jonas Valanciunas stay out of foul trouble down low, as a big rotation with JV places the Grizzlies with incredibly shallow depth at the four and five spot, which could hurt them as the Spurs play LaMarcus Aldridge against Memphis.