Grizzlies’ strong points align to create a difficult matchup
After Tuesday’s matchup with the owners of the Western Conference’s best record, the Rockets will turn around to face the team with the secondbest record. Welcome home. The Rockets’ first home games since Feb. 8 brought the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies to Toyota Center. Going from a game against the second-ranked offensive team to the secondranked defensive team in the NBA did not seem to be a good way to turn things around after the fall to the worst record in the NBA.
Not surprisingly, the Rockets had not beaten those teams in the previous meetings this season, but they had not played the Grizzlies since the second game of the season, when the Rockets took Memphis down to the wire.
The Rockets are 1-8 in the second game of backto-backs. The Grizzlies, who faced the Lakers on Tuesday in Memphis, have gone 4-4 in the second game when playing on consecutive nights.
Here are five things to watch Wednesday:
Another season high?
Ja Morant set the tone for opposing players setting season or career highs when going against the Rockets, scoring 49 points in the second game of the season Oct. 21, still the most he has scored in a game this season.
That was only topped once by a Rockets opponent this season, with Luka Doncic going for 50 on Dec. 23 at Toyota Center, until Damian Lillard shattered that number by scoring 71 on Sunday in Portland.
Lillard’s night was reminiscent of Morant’s. Lillard hit 12 3-pointers, the most ever against the Rockets in a game. Morant hit 5 of 6, which is still his season high, one shy of his career high. Beyond that, both take advantage of one of the Rockets’ greatest defensive shortcomings.
No one handles the ball more often or scores more points per game in pickand-roll than Morant. He averages 12.3 points per game as a pick-and-roll ballhandler. Lillard is next, averaging 12.1.
No team allows more points to the ball handler in pick-and-roll than the Rockets, no small issue considering the teams allowing the next most — the Spurs, Pistons and Hornets — are the teams also vying for the worst record in the NBA.
Morant can light up anyone. His 27 points per game are 11th-best in the NBA. He makes just 31.7 percent of his 3s, a long way from his shooting against the Rockets in October. But if he makes 83.3 percent of his 3s, as he did that night, he moves to unstoppable.
Grit ’n’ run?
The Grizzlies are a middle of the pack team offensively, ranking 16th in points per 100 possessions, but while shaky in the halfcourt, they are sensational in the open floor.
Memphis is third in fast-break points, averaging 17.6 per game. Only the Pacers shoot more regularly with between 18 and 22 seconds on the shot clock. But the Grizzlies do not do as much damage late in the clock, averaging just 1.5 3s per game with seven seconds or less left on the shot clock.
They don’t rely on 3s, getting 29.2 percent of their scoring from the 3point line to rank 22nd, roughly the same as the Rockets and making them one of just two teams in the bottom 10 in 3-pointers made with a winning record. But the 59 points they average in the paint would be the most in the NBA since the league began keeping track in the 1996-97 season.
That makes it even more important that the Rockets keep the Grizzlies from getting in the open floor too often. The Rockets are last in fast-break points allowed, giving up 17.5 per game. Their defensive shortcomings — pickand-roll and transition defense — line up with the Grizzlies’ strengths, making it even more important than usual that the Rockets keep them in the halfcourt as often as possible.
Mismatch?
The Rockets are last in the NBA in shooting percentage, 3-point shooting percentage and offensive rating, which is a problem against any opponent. It is especially foreboding against the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies are second behind only the Bucks in defensive rating and hold opponents to 44.8 percent shooting, the best shooting-percentage defense in the league. Their 14.4 combined blocks and steals per game rank second behind only Miami’s 14.5.
The Grizzlies’ defense is so strong, especially with Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks on the floor together, that when they played the Nuggets on Saturday, they held the second-ranked offensive team in the NBA to a season-low 94 points. The top shooting and 3-point shooting team in the NBA, the Nuggets made just 40.4 percent of their shots, 29.7 percent of their 3s against the Memphis defense.
Boards aplenty
Teams with Steven Adams are always tough to keep off the offensive boards, as the Rockets have experienced for years, but the Grizzlies have fallen off in secondchance scoring since Adams has been out.
Second in offensive rebounding percentage before his knee injury, the Grizzlies have ranked 15th in the past 13 games prior to Tuesday’s. They were second in the NBA in second-chance points prior to Adams’ injury but have ranked 23rd since.
Hitting the glass has been the Rockets’ most reliable strength. They outscored the Grizzlies 22-17 in second-chance points in the first meeting. They are second in secondchance points in the NBA, first in offensive rebounding percentage. As strong as the Grizzlies’ defense is, they are just 22nd in defensive-rebounding percentage, 28th since Adams went out, potentially opening an opportunity for the Rockets’ struggling offense.
For starters
If Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green are both cleared to play in the second game of the back-toback, the Rockets will have a starting lineup decision they have faced just once this season.
Eric Gordon started all 47 games he played with the Rockets this season. Since he was traded, Porter has been out, allowing Jae’Sean Tate and K.J. Martin to both start. On Tuesday, Tate was out for injury maintenance. If the Rockets finally have their starting backcourt together, with Tate and Martin, Stephen Silas would have to choose his fifth starter.
He had his starting guards, Tate and Martin all available in just one of the games Gordon missed this season, when Tate started Oct. 30 in Phoenix. Tate, Porter and Green have all been available for just seven games this season. But Martin has started the past 20 games. In his 27 starts this season prior to Tuesday’s game, he averaged 13.9 points on 55.9 percent shooting.