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The Dallas Mavericks will face the Memphis Grizzlies at 6:30 AM IST on 28th February. The Mavericks are now 11th in the West at 25-31 and rapidly slipping away from the eighth playoff spot in the West. They have made it to the playoffs for 12 consecutive years and that streak is in danger of ending this year. The Grizzlies are perched more comfortably to make it to the playoffs as they are 37-18 right now, good enough for fourth in the West. They had a brief hiccup after the trade of Rudy Gay, who was their leading scorer, to Toronto Raptors. The Grizzlies ended up losing three of the four games following that. But they eventually settled into their groove as they won seven games in a row after that. The Grizzlies are coming off a 76-72 win versus the Brooklyn Nets.
The Mavericks have now lost two games in a row and will be looking to end the streak vs the Grizzlies as Memphis will look to win its 8th game in a row. The Grizzlies have the home court advantage, the Mavs will be tired on the second night of a back to back and their record away from home is shabby too, 9-19. The Grizzlies have defended their home court well, they are 22-8 at home this season.
The Grizzlies have one of the most imposing frontcourts in the league with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Those two are capable of bothering Dirk Nowitzki and Elton Brand on both ends. Of course you can’t really defend against those indefensible shots which Dirk puts up but making him work on both ends of the court can tire him out a little. They also have Darrell Arthur to put on Dirk. Elton Brand will also give the Grizzlies cause for concern as he’s averaging 14 points and 8.5 rebounds over the last four games.
Darren Collison vs Mike Conley
Collison is averaging 12.7 points per game with 5.5 assists and 2.9 boards. He is not in good form as he’s shot less than 40% over the last four games. Conley is averaging 13.4 points with 5.9 assists and has averaged 15 points and 7 assists on 45% shooting over the last 10 games in which the Grizzlies have gone 8-2. Conley has just surpassed Rudy Gay as the franchise leader in steals with 642.
OJ Mayo vs Tony Allen
Mayo is averaging 17.5 points with 4.4 assists in 35.9 minutes of action. He will go up against Tony Allen who is one of the most hard nosed defenders in the NBA. Allen is averaging 8.8 points per game with 4.5 rebounds.
Shawn Marion vs Tayshaun Prince
The Matrix is averaging 11.4 points per game with 2.4 assists and 8 rebounds. He’s about to cross 2,500 rebounds for his career. He will face Tayshaun Prince who was traded to the Grizzlies from the Pistons recently. Prince is averaging 11.3 points per game with 4.3 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki vs Zach Randolph
Dirk is averaging 16.2 points per game with 6.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He’s coming off a 21 points and 20 rebounds game, his first 20-20 game since 2003. Zach Randolph on the other hand is averaging 15.7 points per game with 11.7 rebounds. He’s actually getting better numbers than Dirk. The Dallas Mavericks are just coming off Dirk’s best game of the season thus far. Nowitzki had 21 points and 20 rebounds but it wasn’t enough as the Mavericks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 95-90. Dirk has been on fire of late. He’s averaging 25.3 points and 13.3 rebounds over the last three games and he’s shooting 55.8% from the field. He missed the first 27 games of this season as he was coming off a knee surgery.
Elton Brand vs Marc Gasol
Brand is averaging 7.8 points per game with 6.7 rebounds. But he’s playing only 22.1 minutes per game. Marc Gasol is averaging 13.6 points with 7.8 rebounds per game. Gasol has the size advantage of Randolph and is acclimated to playing more this season. He and his team are better situated this season than his brother Pau Gasol at Los Angles.
The Mavericks will be tired and will have to go up against a more athletic team in the Grizzlies. “Our collective will has to be stronger,” Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ve got to coach these younger guys harder and better.” Regardless of how much harder and better the Mavericks are, it seems that the Grizzlies will take this one too. Barring an explosion from Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks are pretty much out of the playoffs right now. If Dallas is to make it to the postseason, it has to start with Dirk and the road goes through teams like the Grizzlies.
