Every NBA team has between 13 to 15 games remaining in the 2024 - 2025 regular season, and the playoff picture is far from being settled. As the order of the standings has separated into tiers, the Grizzlies have been in the same boat for the last two months.
They have rotated between the two, three, four, and five seed lines and their inconsistency on the court has shown why that has been the case. After winning four consecutive games last week to make up for a four game losing streak, the Grizzlies have lost two of their last three games after regaining the two seed.
Also, the NBA's strength of schedule rotates on a daily basis and now the Grizzlies have the ninth toughest schedule remaining. With battles set against the teams in their tier in the coming weeks, Memphis has an opportunity to end the season in a position that gives them the best chance to make a Western Conference Finals run.
The Grizzlies would be the 5th seed if the season ended today
This time last week the Grizzlies found themselves in the fourth spot with homecourt advantage against their division rival Houston Rockets. After a 2-2 week since March 11th, Memphis fell one position to fifth and would have to battle the revamped Los Angeles Lakers in the first round without homecourt advantage.
Considering the Grizzlies have lost all three game 1's in series they have held homecourt advantage since 2022, falling to fifth already puts them in underdog mode. They typically perform well when they are doubted which is good, but also hinders them from taking that next step from good to great.
A first-round matchup with the Lakers would have its advantages as the Grizzlies would have the upper hand in the bigs matchup, unlike in years past when they had Anthony Davis. However, Luka Doncic just took the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season and LeBron James has the most playoff experience ever and has tasted a first-round series win over the Grizzlies.
Psychologically, the Grizzlies will have to grow up at some point and defeat a veteran team, and this matchup would provide them with an opportunity to do that right off the bat. While this might not be the matchup they would want, eliminating two NBA giants out the gate would do wonders for their confidence to make a legit NBA Finals run.
The Grizzlies will face the Lakers in Memphis on March 29th for a chance to tie the season series 2-2 and give themselves a chance to gain homecourt advantage in this potential series. They trail the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets by one game as the race for the two seed continues.