Herrington: At midseason, do the Grizzlies look like a contender?
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Jan. 20 in Memphis. (Brandon Dill/AP file)
Chris Herrington
Chris Herrington covers the Memphis Grizzlies and writes about Memphis culture, food, and civic life.
OK, so we’re a couple of games late for a mid-season check-in.
The Memphis Grizzlies hit the 41-game mark in an 82-game season in the first half of their San Antonio double-dip last week. But with the team’s annual MLK Day showcase coming only a few days later, this seems like a more natural midseason demarcation point.
We do a lot of deep dives on individual players or topics in this space, but this will be a 30,000-foot gaze at where the Grizzlies are and where they could be headed this season.
Are the Grizzlies a contender?
I suppose it depends on what your definition of a “contender” is. The Grizzlies are 28-15 and half a game out of second place in the West, though they’ve already lost the head-to-head tiebreaker against the current second-place Houston Rockets.
They’re on pace for 53 wins, which would be better than the 51 wins that got them second place two seasons ago. They’ve done this with impressive balance. The Grizzlies have had the NBA’s fifth-ranked offense and sixth-ranked defense, joining the defending champion Boston Celtics and current West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder as the only teams in the top six on both ends of the floor.
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