The wait is finally over, folks, as the Memphis Grizzlies have officially released their regular season schedule for 2023-24.
Upon first glance, there appear to be several key dates and matchups that stand out as being attention-grabbing for both fans and media pundits alike and, when taking a deeper dive into how their 82-game slate is laid out, it becomes more and more evident just how important proper scheduling actually is.
With the way Memphis’ agenda is currently planned, there are both pluses and minuses found throughout, though, at the moment, the former seems to be more prevalent.
With this in mind, here are two pros (and one con) of the 2023-24 schedule for the Grizzlies.
2 pros (and 1 con) of the Grizzlies schedule:
Pro No. 1: Easy stretch prior to Ja Morant’s return date
The biggest storyline heading into the upcoming season when it comes to the Grizzlies is the impending 25-game suspension guard Ja Morant will be forced to face following yet another firearm incident that took place this offseason.
Fortunately, the ball club has proven to be more than capable of staying afloat without their superstar centerpiece in the lineup over the last few years, as they sport an overall record of 31-15 in such situations since 2021-22, so fears of serious struggle to kick off the campaign were already rather low.
With the schedule now public, however, it seems that the team has an opportunity to add several more games to their win column when in Morant-less situations, as this upcoming two-month stretch consists of just eight opposing teams that finished above .500 in 2022-23 and, of the clubs on the docket that sported a losing record, none managed to improve all that much heading into this year.
With this in mind, it’s by no means shocking to see that the Grizzlies will only be having one of their 13 total nationally televised outings come before the guard’s potential December 19 return.