Grizzlies Eye .500 (again) Against One of the Worst in the East, Wizards.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies are back in action tonight, as they will take on the Washington Wizards inside the nation’s capital and look to get back to .500 on the season.

It was almost a week ago that the Washington Wizards, who had won 4 games up to that point, came into the 901 and beat the Grizzlies 130-122.

A shocking game, to say the least, as the Grizz had just come off a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Grizzlies had led by as much as 20 in the first half but came out with an absolute dud in the second.

That cannot happen again, but it seems that Iisalo does make it a point to correct the wrongs of a past game, against the same team. That doesn’t mean they cannot lose; we have seen them do that before.

They will need to limit noted Grizz-killer CJ McCollum and make sure that Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George aren’t putting up the same performance as last game.

Those two were the ones that helped get the Wizards back into the game and eventually take home the win.

During the game on Friday against the Bucks, I noticed a concerted effort by Ja to feed Jaren Jackson Jr. down low when he had the mismatch.

He even got worked up and was yelling at him, while pointing out that he’s got the mismatch, just keep him under the basket and we will find you.

After that moment I watched as Jaren and Ja would work the Bucks into a mismatch, Jaren gets the ball, turns and hits a shot from no more than 5 feet out.

Ja was a leader; he commands the respect of his team and they in turn follow him. He was for sure shaking off some rust, but he did not attempt a three and was creating for him and his teammates whist going towards the basket.

The defense was the main factor for the win on Friday; they have shown when they play tight defense they can be a problem. When they are shading too heavy or letting teams get wide open three-point attempts, they can lose to anyone.

Stay on a rope defensively, make sure you keep the rebounding battle close, and don’t get beat to spots because you’re “defending the lane,” the Block Panther is back to playing much better, trust him.

We know Cam Spencer can light it up whenever he hits the floor, but it is interesting to note, that nearly 40% of his points come in the fourth quarter.

Most of that was due to either winning or trying to claw back into a game, but it is good to know that when the game is getting late, we know we can rely on him to hit some big-time shots, not pass the ball off.

Grizzlies PR announced today that Jock Landale, who missed Friday’s game against the Bucks with right calf soreness, is listed as QUESTIONABLE.

Just keep getting guys healthy, just keep bringing them back and keeping them on the court, please.

For the Wizards, Corey Kispert is listed as DAY-TO-DAY and Cam Whitmore is OUT.

The Wizards are tied for the worst record in the league, they are in the bottom third in team offense, defense, and point differential.

I have said this before, but you have to get this win. To be a team that wants to have playoff aspirations, you beat the teams that are statistically worse than you.

You just have to, no excuses, you lost the first one, don’t let this one slip away.

With Ja Morant on the floor, I expect this time to be different.

Tip-off is at 5 PM CST and can be found on the FanDuel Sports Network.