Grizzlies (38-18) @ Miami (41-14)

[vanjulio]

@

Grizzlies (38-18, Streak: Won 8) @ Miami Heat (41-14, Streak: Won 12)
8:00 PM ET, March 1, 2013
Season Series: Memphis 1-0

Coverage: ESPN,SUN
AA Arena, Miami, FL

Team Trivia: Grizzlies acquired Miami Heat's Dexter Pittman at the trade deadline last week. Mike Miller 33 (6th Man of the Year) and Shane Batter 31 played some of their best games for the Grizzlies. Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were college teammates. Jarvis Varnado is from nearby Brownsville, TN.


Grizz Celeb of the Game

Natalie Martinez



Grizzlies Starters



Heat Starters





Bench Heroes

[SD2042]

Natalie Martinez is one of my favs. Inspite she's a Heat fan and native Miami Mami. I'm willing to forgive this once.

This game will be a highlight to see tonight. Both teams riding long win streaks that are now on the line. Both teams played low to their opponents( Sacaramento and Dallas respectively) and still won out by the hardest.

It's all in now. Both teams have to bring the rain and raise hell tonight in order to see who can outlast the other. Expected matchups:

Prince vs. LBJ

Dificult for Prince, but I'm expecting him to do his best to make LBJ earn those hard points.

Allen vs. Wade

If Allen can take D-Wade out of his game and make him a shooter, that should help cut down on points in the paint in terms of slashers and keep the Grizz frontline out of foul trouble.

Grizz offense can't afford to struggle tonight. This Miami Heat will not have any mercy. The Grizz either bring it or go down losing.


Good luck Grizzlies!

Zbo and Marc vs. Miami's thin frontcourt.

[jefe]

I expect Miami to pack the paint and deny post entry passes to Zbo and Gasol. Daye, Bayless and/or Pondexter better get ready to replicate Ellington's shooting from the first match up, because I don't think Miami changes their game plan much from the first match up.

[MemGrizz723]

definitely going to have our work cut out for us but we match up pretty well with the Heat. the leagues 2 hottest teams going at. This could be the statement win we need.

[vanjulio]

the HEAT looked really pissed going into halftime! Grizz will have to come out playing crazy to get this win. Heat are really looking for victory. But so far ---- soooooooooooooooooooooo good!

[jman3134]

And they had the lead! Lebron not super effective offensively yet. That is a bit disconcerting.

[jman3134]

Haven't missed a shot in the 3rd quarter right now. We are playing some good defense, but our outside shots are falling. I say we go inside out and try to mix it up. We can't sustain this shooting for the entire game unless we force a lot of turnovers.

[jman3134]

Why are the backups in against the Heat starters to start the fourth?

[jman3134]

Can we please put Conley in for the fourth quarter? These rotations are a complete joke.

[mid-post]

Good game so far. I'm starting to warm to this squad's chances in the playoffs.

Love me some Pondexter. Kid's going to make the jump to solid starter at some point, and from there who knows what it turns into. He's got a lot of skills and he's smart.

[mid-post]

I wasn't a big fan of our offense in the last 3 or so minutes. Oh well, good game. Hopefully this team just gets better and better down the stretch.

[jefe]

Can we please put Conley in for the fourth quarter? These rotations are a complete joke.

Agreed. At one point early in the fourth, we had Daye on Lebron for an extended stretch

[vanjulio]

Sshane barrier is now persona nongrata

[SD2042]

This game was tight until the last two minutes. Unfortunately LBJ had enough cushion to make that 3 ball that put the game out of reach. atchup expose a weakness. The Grizz don't have the aggressive slasher that they need to go against a team like the Heat. To me that could be the deciding factor of how far the Griz go in the playoff race.

[darkangle901]

This game was tight until the last two minutes. Unfortunately LBJ had enough cushion to make that 3 ball that put the game out of reach. atchup expose a weakness. The Grizz don't have the aggressive slasher that they need to go against a team like the Heat. To me that could be the deciding factor of how far the Griz go in the playoff race.

Yeah we can get penetration from the PG spot, but all our wing players are mostly spot up shooters except TA who can't even shoot.

Pondexter is the closest thing to a wing-scorer we have. We can get some more penetration by playing Bayless at the 2, but he's a pretty noticeable liability there on defense. As I recall, we spent a lot of time doubling Wade in the 4th because Bayless couldn't be trusted to guard him.

That Speights trade killed us. We should have held him til the deadline and tried to land Afflalo or someone like that. Cheap backup C and a 1st round pick should always be an attractive package.

[SD2042]

Too bad Afflalo has three yrs on it. Would've negate the financial saving for the Grizz. Dexter Pittman is about as cheap as the Grizz could get. Unfortunately. Getting a first round pick back aways helps. Just depends on how they draft and can this new group be capable of being efficient at it?

[darkangle901]

Too bad Afflalo has three yrs on it. Would've negate the financial saving for the Grizz. Dexter Pittman is about as cheap as the Grizz could get. Unfortunately. Getting a first round pick back aways helps. Just depends on how they draft and can this new group be capable of being efficient at it?

They seem to understand basketball players and how to fit them together. Getting Prince as Rudy's replacement seems to show that. Prince is a big talent downgrade, but the team is better for it. Ed Davis is looking more and more like a keeper as well.

I'll have to see them make a few draft picks first though. By my count, we're down at least two 1st rounders over the next few years, but we picked up 2nd rounders from the Gay trade and the Pittman trade. If we're going to be very close to the luxury tax for the forseeable future (looks likely) then 2nd rounders may be better for us. You can land good players there if you know what you're doing.