The Grizzlies have the chance to tie a franchise record for consecutive wins tonight, going for number 11. Here is what to expect as they take on the Cavaliers.
The Grizzlies look to continue their dominant month of January tonight as they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at the FedEx Forum. The Grizzlies enter the game with a 10-game winning streak, and a win would tie their franchise record for consecutive wins with 11. After a dominant second half against the Suns on MLK day, Memphis is looking stronger than ever. The Cavaliers meanwhile have been trading wins and losses over their past six games.
The Cavaliers will be without top scorer Donovan Mitchell as well, severely limiting their offensive potential. Against the Grizzlies’ top-ranked defense, that will be a hard obstacle to overcome. Here is what to expect from tonight’s game.
Grizzlies favored heavily for a reason
Under normal circumstances, this game may be expected to be a relatively close contest. The Cavaliers are far from a pushover, currently sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference and just a game out of being as high as second place. With the news of Donovan Mitchell being out, however, it really puts them in a difficult spot. So much of what the Cavaliers do revolves around his ability to create his own offense.
With how impressive the Grizzlies’ defense has looked over the past two months, scoring was likely to be difficult even with Mitchell. Without him, it’s going to take huge games from Darius Garland and Evan Mobley on the offensive end to give them a chance. Jarret Allen will have his hands full as well trying to keep Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr from attacking the rim. Mitchell has never been the best defender, so they should be fine defensively. Still, it’s one less perimeter defender that the Grizzlies have to deal with.
If the Grizzlies can get past the Cavaliers tonight, they should have a strong chance to break their consecutive wins record. They face a struggling Lakers team in their next game and a Suns team they just dismantled after that. Here’s hoping they can take care of business and continue their march toward the number one seed in the West.