Before the NBA's All-Star break, the Memphis Grizzlies played back-to-back road games against the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers last Tuesday and Wednesday. They defeated the Suns before falling to the Clippers without Ja Morant and Vince Williams Jr.
While losing to the Clippers brought their record against the top six in the Western Conference to 3-8, there was no shame in losing a road game without their best player in a back-to-back road setting before the break. However, the real work begins as they prepare to face the fourth toughest remaining strength of schedule.
Their remaining schedule includes five games against the current top six teams in the Western Conference and a chance to tie their season series against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers. The Denver Nuggets are the only team they can win the season series against as they have one game remaining after splitting their first two games in November.
Those same teams the Grizzlies are in a tier with out west are scattered all around them in the first power rankings after the NBA All-Star break.
NBA.com: 6th
The Grizzlies dropped to sixth in the NBA power rankings last week and held still as everyone in the top nine did after a short week before the break. Losing two out of three games before the All-Star break helped the Denver Nuggets gain ground on the Grizzlies by moving within a 0.5 game for the number two seed.
The Grizzlies have won 11 of their last 14 games overall but the Nuggets won eight games in a row going into the break to nearly catch them. Winning consistently against teams above .500 continues to haunt the Grizzlies as their 13-15 record against those teams ranks 10th best in the NBA.
However, their dominance against the Eastern Conference (16-4) bolds well for them coming out of the break as their road trip continues to the east for their first three games after the All-Star break.
ClutchPoints: 6th
ClutchPoints and the NBA agreed in their power rankings as they dropped the Grizzlies to sixth as well. The Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies swapped the 4th and 6th positions in the ClutchPoints rankings as the NBA rankings already had the Nuggets ahead of the Grizzlies in the same position last week.
The Grizzlies' offense continued to be noted as while teams don't necessarily fear them because of their lack of a deep playoff run, the pace they play is a problem for a team that likes to slow the pace. NBA offenses typically slow down in the playoffs but the Grizzlies' new system doesn't look like it will succumb to the NBA norm.