Nuggets Grizzlies Preview

The Nuggets will face off against the Memphis Grizzlies at home tonight. They own the season series 2-1 and that tie breaker could become very important in the playoff race. None of the games have been blowouts with the margin of victory in the 3 match ups being 5, 5 and 9. These teams have not faced off since the Rudy Gay trade. Memphis is 16-4 in that trade which is a surprise to me because I thought they would drop off at least a little because of that trade, but it seems as if they have gotten better after shedding Gay. They now own the 3rd spot in the Western Conference. Tayshaun Prince has replaced Gay in the starting lineup and has filled in admirably. He does not score as much, but he is more efficient and is also a good rebounder and a long defender .

Ty Lawson will be facing off against Mike Conley. Conley is a much improved scorer, scoring more more efficiently than before. He is a very good defender who is good at slowing down opposing point guards. Ty has been on fire since the beginning of 2013. He has been hard to stop and Conley will have his hands full. Look for this to be a great matchup and one that could decide the game.

Dont expect much offense from the Iguodola Tony Allen matchup. These are two defensive players going at it and the only way either should score is on a fast break. Neither has much of a jumper or anything outside of a layup and I dont expect that they let each other anywhere near the hoop.

Gall will face off against Tayshaun Prince. His scoring has dipped since joining Memphis as a part of the Rudy Gay deal. However, they don't need to him to score more than 10 per game. He provides length on the defensive end which they will need to guard Gallo. Gallo's production has dropped off since his injury, but he is still playing well. He plays his best when he is driving to the basket and drawing fouls. He also plays at his best when he isn'y dominating the ball. If Ty is dominating the ball it leads to drive and kicks which lead to buckets for Gallo and he needs to remember that.

Faried has averaged 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game against the Grizzlies this season. Obviously Zach Randolph has something to do with that. Randolph can be a nightmare to defend because he can take it inside, but he also has a nice outside jump shot. He also goes hard for the rebounds and has good box-out technique. Faried needs to play good solid basketball in order to keep up with him and it will be hard for George to go to his small ball lineups because of Randolph's size and rebounding ability.

Koufos will face the challenge of guarding Marc Gasol. Gasol is an all around player who can score when needed and is a good rebounder. He is efficient from the field and you cannot foul him because he shoots a gaudy 85% from the line. Koufos needs to continue to play solid basketball and don't try to do too much on the offensive end.

The Nuggets bench is one of, if not the best in the league. Corey Brewer and Javel McGee can provide the energy off the bench while Andre Miller and Wilson Chandler can be the rocks off of the bench. I do not know if there is another bench in the league that could hang with the Nuggets. Memphis has a formidable bench too which boast Jerryd Bayless, Quincy Pondexter and Ed Davis. Davis could be a starter in this league if he was not stuck behind Randolph. Bayless has never lived up to his potential from when he was drafted, but he is a very good scorer coming off the bench.

Ultimately this game is a battle of ideology, the Nuggets boast the third best scoring team in the NBA while the Grizzlies have the best scoring defense in the NBA. The Nuggets should be able to run in their own building, but if they play how the Grizzlies want them to play it will be a tough win to get. They can extend their streak to 11 games and win their 30th home game of the season where they have a 29-3 record.