As the Memphis Grizzlies embark on a season-long five-game road trip, they look to create separation for the West's number two seed. As of March 17th the Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, and Houston Rockets are tied with a 43-25 record with Houston winning the tiebreaker, followed by Denver, then Memphis.
The Western Conference playoff contenders have felt like three tiers for the majority of the second half of the season with the Oklahoma City Thunder as the best team in the conference. The Grizzlies, Nuggets, Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers have been altering between two through five since mid-February.
The Los Angeles Clippers had a hold on the sixth seed for a while until the Minnesota Timberwolves embarked on an eight-game winning streak and the Golden State Warriors used an 11-1 spurt to create a two-team competition to avoid the play-in. The Clippers are now solidly at eighth, the Sacramento Kings are ninth, and the faltering Dallas Mavericks are hanging on by a thread for the 10th seed as the Phoenix Suns continue to struggle at 11th.
With the Western Conference standings settling in where the teams will likely land, are the Memphis Grizzlies still considered contenders?
ESPN has the Grizzlies as sixth in the West tiers as a conference finals contender
The Grizzlies' 12-19 record against teams .500 and over continues to hang over their head as their last victory over a team with a .500 and over record was on February 2nd against the Milwaukee Bucks. They have since gone 0-7 against .500 and better teams, including losing five of those games by double-digit points.
Eight or nine of the Grizzlies' last 14 games will come against teams with a .500 and above record. Their game against the Sacramento Kings on March 17th would likely switch one way or the other as they are currently .500 (33-33) ahead of their game. So if the Grizzlies beat them it would count as a win against a team under .500, but a loss would count as another loss against a team with a winning record.
However, ESPN still has faith that if things break right the Grizzlies could make a run to at least the Western Conference Finals. The reality is the Grizzlies have one of the best big threes in the league with two All-Stars in Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., along with one of the best shooters in the NBA with Desmond Bane as the third option.
Also, the depth of the Western Conference shows how difficult and close the teams are as seven teams are considered contenders, and the current standings show that. While the race for the two-seed heats up, the Grizzlies need to find ways to win more games against winning teams, especially in the West.
As fate would have it the Grizzlies have five games remaining against the Los Angeles Clippers (3/21), Los Angeles Lakers (3/29), Golden State Warriors (4/1), Minnesota Timberwolves (4/10), and Denver Nuggets (4/11). Those games will likely decide if their contender status is real or not.