Grizz Try to Regroup After Tough Loss, Take On Denver.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies will face off tonight against the 34-20, 3rd in the West, Denver Nuggets.

This will mark the second time these two teams have played each other, as the second scheduled game was postponed due to the inclement winter weather that swept through the South in January.

The Nuggets won the previous match up on Nov. 25th 125-115, where Jamal Murray had 29 points, and Jaylen Wells led the Grizzlies with 22 pts.

Jokic was on it hitting a half-court shot at the end of the third and creating some great looks with his passing late in the fourth.

The Nuggets are expected to have Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson all OUT. While Spencer Jones is QUESTIONABLE as he is dealing with concussion protocol.

For the Grizz, Walter Clayton Jr. and Cedric Coward are listed as DOUBTFUL.

I would assume Ced doesn’t play as he is slated to be a part of the Rising Stars Game during the All-Star Break; if he does play tonight that means his knee injury that he sustained in the second quarter against the Warriors is not that serious.

Denver comes into the game 1-4 in their last 5, with the lone win coming against the Chicago Bulls. Their most recent game was on Monday where they fell to the Cav’s 119-117.

Memphis is also 1-4 in their last 5, with the one win coming against the Kings after the Grizzlies had traded away franchise player Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Jazz.

In terms of team stats, the Nuggets lead the league in team offense, top ten in point differential, but their team defense is bottom half of the league (19th). The Grizz are right around 20th in all of those stats, a middling team at best.

The Grizzlies will need to figure out how to start winning some of these games they are leading. Losing is a mentality, you lose too much and these guys will believe that is the only thing they can do.

They have shown some resiliency in the face of losing, but they have yet to figure out how to win. Whether that is the coach or the players they need to figure it out. Things like losing can manifest itself in the next season.

So why not go out there and snag a win before the All-Star Break.

The Grizzlies are currently in the 8th spot right now in the draft, if they win it won’t change that. Milwaukee would have to lose two in one game to take over the spot, and even then, it might come down to winning percentage or who they beat.

There is plenty of time left to lose enough games and secure a lottery pick, but then again it is a lottery pick, where you get put in the top 14 is a crap shoot.

When they got the second overall pick, they had a 6% chance of landing it, higher chances doesn’t always mean better odds.

After the loss to Golden State on Monday, I watched as the fans celebrated and a camera catch GG Jackson walking off the court. He was untucking his jersey and yelling up at the sky, clearly upset that they let the game slip away.

That is what you cannot take from these guys, most are hard-nosed competitors that hate losing. It takes a toll and winning solves everything.

I hope for his sake they can string together a couple of wins here and there as they deal with injuries and poor play because some of these guys are putting in a lot of effort only to see it not come to fruition.

The Grizz have a tall task today, it would’ve been tall if they were healthy, this Denver team has been good for a long time, and they have the right pieces to continue to do so.

Go out there and get the win, give yourself some grace going into the break, come back and see what the rest of the season looks like.

Hopefully no more injuries.

Tip-off is at 8 PM CST. You can watch live on the FanDuel Sports Network with Pete and Brevin, or listen live to Eric Hasseltine on 92.9 ESPN FM and on the Audacy app.