Reeling Grizzlies Take On Streaking Hornets.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies will play the 19-28 Charlotte Hornets tonight inside FedEx Forum.

The Hornets come into this game on a three-game winning streak including wins over the Magic and Wizards. Their most recent win came in a 130-93 dismantling over the 76er’s.

They are playing good ball as of late, which I cannot say the same for the Grizz.

Memphis has dropped its last three after returning from their two-game Euro trip against the Orlando Magic.

The Hornets will be without Mason Plumlee and KJ Simpson. Prior to the injury report coming out there was speculation that Kon Knueppel was Questionable with a hip contusion, but it seems he will play through it.

When the Hornets have LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller out on the floor they are pesky team to say the least.

A heavy guard team, that could present some problems as this Memphis team has shown they have a difficult time defending the three-point line consistently.

A key to getting back in the win column would be to attack the rim and force the Hornets to deal with the size of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jock Landale.

Landale is expected to be back with the team after dealing with “personal matters,” again I hope that everyone in the Landale family is okay and that it wasn’t something major.

Missing him against the Rockets really showed up, Sengun was able to dominate and force the issue while posting 33 pts.

The Grizzlies will have to defend the three-point line, the Hornets are a top 5 team in 3-point percentage, just at 37% a game.

They are top 15 in team defense and point differential, now that is helped out by their recent win margins but still, a young team that is playing relatively well.

As the Grizzlies have struggled to put teams away after leading in the fourth or going into the fourth.

Since coming out as one of the best shooters on the floor, Cam Spencer has had some not-so-great games scoring recently.

I imagine that is in large part due to the fact that the Grizzlies just don’t have enough guys out there that demand attention at all times, that he has been pushed up on the white board of ‘guys we have to stop/limit/contain’ and teams have done that well; getting out in front of him and sticking to him on the perimeter.

Cedric has had some unfortunate rolls of the ball around the rim too. He is getting good looks just not falling, I think we are due for a big game out of him.

Be in control of the ball, distribute well, and stick with your man on defense; these are completely doable, but as we have seen they start to come apart at the seams near the end.

12 or 13 games this year they have been up by 10 in the fourth and lost, that is coaching. I don’t care what you say about who is on the floor, you cannot give up that many games leading. Shows no awareness, no sense of urgency, and zero understanding of the situation at hand.

If being “competitive” is what he wants, he really isn’t even getting that. There are guys out there playing hard, but I have yet to see an offensive set in the half-court where I thought “wow, what a great play,” it usually is “what are they doing out there?”

It has the look of AAU basketball, everybody gets their minutes, and everybody gets to do what they want whenever they feel.

That would be an interesting gameplan, if you had a healthy team, or if you had a baseline of set plays and structure. This team doesn’t have it, and the Euro ball is a failure at this point.

The Grizzlies are either 19th or 20th in team offense, defense, and point differential. If they had won half of the games they led and lost, they would be sitting a few games behind .500 and would be in the play-in tournament. That would be an okay thing, if they weren’t able to possibly trade the franchise player while a good portion of the team is injured.

You might be able to salvage something if that were the case, but it is not and they will need to have some sort of seance to change the outcome of how they attack end of game opportunities.

One thing I have noticed too is that once the other team starts getting on their run, the Grizzlies decide that it is time to shoot from three, with 6 seconds ticked off the shot clock.

Kill some of the clock and look for the best shot, sometimes that is a transition three, but not every time. They allow these teams back in because of this, and a whole litany of other reasons.

When you don’t have the team, you have to find ways to win, they are literally giving it away when they throw up three’s hoping that will turn the tide.

It is clear that they don’t have a finisher, well they do, but he hasn’t played a lot this year and trade rumors swirl around him as the days go by. They have gone a bit silent these last few days, but that will only last as they talk about Giannis and others.

After an abysmal start to the season, the Hornets have found a bit of a stride, if the Grizzlies want to be in the play-in they need to start today with a win.

Tip-off is at 7 PM CST inside FedEx Forum. You can listen live on 9.29 ESPN FM or on the Audacy app and watch live on FanDuel Sports Network. Pregame is at 6:30 PM CST.

Fans going down to the game tonight, be careful, take your time, and above all wear the bear!