Grizz Eye .500 as Lowley Wizards Come into Town.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies look to get to their 14th win of the season tonight against the hapless (4-21) Washington Wizards.

Word from the Grizzlies PR came down yesterday that Ja Morant and Vince Williams Jr. will be OUT tonight. I had hoped to see Ja back, but with how bad the Wizards are there is no real reason to rush him back, with the Thunder up next.

Vince is dealing with some left knee soreness. Great.

That means that 9 players are listed as OUT for the Grizzlies. I have yet to see any team, in my lifetime, have the run of bad luck they have had in the past few years.

This is reminiscent of the 2023-2024 season, where they used 33 players, and 51 starting lineups.

To be a Grizzlies fan nowadays means to have notifications on for the Grizzlies PR team, only to be hit in the gut with another report of someone being out.

They have been able to get away without having a true point guard on the floor for most of these games, I expect this game would be another one.

Jaylen, Cam, Cedric, we need you guys to play well with the ball in your hands. I would also expect to see some minutes out of Jamai Mashack, he got some rotational minutes in the T-Wolves game, and they will need him tonight. If not for anything just to give some rest for the other ball handlers.

A good opportunity against a team that is by all accounts, terrible.

Washington ranks among the worst teams in offensive, defense, and point differential. Plainly put, they are young and bad.

Led by Alex Sarr, 2024 2nd overall pick from France, the Wizards are a poorly constructed team. CJ McCollum and Kyshawn George add a bit of scoring, not much though and the rest of the team is filled with guys from teams that gave up on certain players.

Guys like Marvin Bagley III, shoutout the Grizz, Cam Whitmore and Corey Krispert round out the names of players you may have heard of.

In their last 10 games the Wizards have gave 3-7, beating Indiana, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. Not the greatest teams by any standard, but after an abysmal start to the season they have racked up a few wins.

This is a great spot to be for the Grizz, get a relatively easy opponent right before the Thunder. They won’t have to rush anyone back and hopefully they can use what the T-Wolves did last night as a springboard to getting over .500.

Some happy news out of the Grizzlies came out yesterday as the team put out photos and videos of the team spreading the holiday cheer by feeding families from the 164th Airlift Wing, My Town Miracles and Girls Inc. of Memphis. Coaches and players were seen fixing plates for the families and having a good time doing it.

It is a yet another small gesture and glimpse into the team, Ja and Iisalo standing next to each other smiling and helping others is something that the city needed to see.

After all the talk and speculation about how they are interacting with each other, the team has seemed to put that in the past.

Other good news is that Cam Spencer will be back with the team after dealing with a family emergency, prayers up for the Spencer family. Cam has been on a roll lately and with a shooter like that, it will continue.

I might be a little delusional, but the way this team is playing right now, if and that is a gigantic hopeful “IF” they can get healthy, they could be a tough team to beat down the stretch.

They have positioned themselves as the 8th seed and are 2 games back of the Suns for the 7th seed. There is a lot of games left and many of them against better talent, but if Edey isn’t hindered from his time off I could see them getting into the playoffs as the team nobody wants to play.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is rounding back into form, Cam Spencer is that shooter, Landale has been adding some great minutes, and getting Brandon Clarke back is massive.

He looked good even though he didn’t have a lot of minutes or points, but his presence was felt. He was quick, bouncy, and in the action. That is what BC does, and what we need right now.

Santi has been consistent, although the last few games hasn’t had the shot, but he has been a solid player this year and I, for one, am happy about it. ‘Santi Claus’ might make an appearance tonight, with the lack of players on the court he will need to be dishing out some good looks.

There is work to be done and guys to get back, but this team is much more fun to watch than what was rolled out at the beginning of the season. Keep playing with some ferocity and grit, and the wins will keep stacking.

With all the football and holiday shopping that will be going on today, be careful and smart. The best gift around this time is just that, time, use it well and cheer on the Grizz.

Tickets are still available for the game tonight so go out and enjoy the game with your family. Saturday night before Christmas week is a perfect time to catch the Grizzlies live. They will be on the road next week until after Christmas, so go see them take care of business tonight.

Tip-off is at 7 PM CST inside FedEx Forum.

It’s the holiday season, the giving season, the time when we can look back and enjoy the year that was and the one that is upon us. Be loud, be proud, fill the chairs and rock the bear.