Grizzlies Take On Timberwolves in Western Conference Showdown
With just a couple of games left in the regular season, the Memphis Grizzlies play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night in what sets up to be a huge Western Conference matchup. After suffering a plethora of losses over the last few weeks, mixed in with the firing of their coach and the fining of Ja Morant, the Grizzlies have managed to turn their season around winning three straight games including last night’s 24-point win over the Charlotte Hornets. During this streak, the Grizzlies have held their opponents to 103.6 points per game, well below the league average for points per game. Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant also seems to be finding his form as he has scored at least 26 points in his last four starts with the team.
However, whilst the Grizzlies seem to have found their form, the Minnesota Timberwolves have also been red hot as of late with the team winning five of their last six games. It is also worth noting if it weren’t for giving up a 24-point fourth-quarter lead to the Milwaukee Bucks last night, the Timberwolves would have secured their sixth win in a row. Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards has also been on a tear recently averaging 28.2 points per game over this six-game stretch. Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has also elevated his game bringing in 17.5 points and 16 rebounds on average over this six-game stretch, a massive leap over his 11.6 points and 10.8 rebound average this season.
In terms of the magnitude of this game for these teams, it couldn’t be higher. As of the current Western Conference standings, the Grizzlies currently hold the seventh seed with a record of 47-32. This puts them into a tie with the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers, the fifth-seeded Denver Nuggets, and the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors and only one game back of the Los Angeles Lakers who hold the third seed. As for the Timberwolves, they sit as the eighth seed with a record of 46-33. With only three games remaining for all these teams, every game becomes crucial as only two games separate the third from the eighth seed. With the Grizzlies and Timberwolves in particular currently within the Play-in-Tournament spots, each team will no doubt come out with renewed vigor as they desperately hope to escape their current positioning in the standings and attain a top-six seed with home-court advantage within their sights as well.
