TIME
10:00 PM ET
Rose Garden, Portland, OR
The Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers are heading to the postseason. Which team each will be facing remains in doubt.
The picture will become a bit more clear Tuesday night when these teams meet in Portland.
The Blazers (47-33) can inch closer to locking up the Western Conference's sixth seed with a victory against the Grizzlies (46-34), who are one game back.
Portland has won two straight and four of five after beating the struggling Los Angeles Lakers 93-86 on Friday. LaMarcus Aldridge recorded his third straight double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Gerald Wallace added 19 points and 13 boards.
"You can't put too much on one game," Aldridge said. "But whenever you can beat the Lakers, the defending champs, it's always a good game."
The Blazers played without center Marcus Camby, who banged his head on the floor in a collision with Golden State's David Lee in a 108-87 loss last Tuesday. Camby has sat out the past two games with a strained neck, and his status for Tuesday is unclear.
Portland and Memphis have split two meetings this season, and the rubber match may have significant importance regarding playoff seeding.
Wesley Matthews scored a then-career-high 30 points in a 100-99 Blazers victory Nov. 16, then Zach Randolph helped the Grizzlies win 86-73 by scoring 25 points and grabbing 20 rebounds Dec. 13.
A Memphis victory Tuesday would tie it with Portland for the sixth seed, and if the teams go on to finish with the same record, the Grizzlies would hold the tiebreaker because of a better head-to-head mark.
Memphis rolled to its ninth win in 11 games Sunday, 111-89 against New Orleans. The Grizzlies have clinched their first playoff berth since 2005-06 and will be looking for their first postseason win after being swept in the franchise's first three appearances (0-12).
"We're still hungry. We're thirsty dogs," reserve forward Darrell Arthur said. "We're trying to go out there and win every game. We're not trying to just stop because we made the playoffs. It doesn't stop there. It stops when we lose in the playoffs."
Memphis outscored the Hornets 56-28 in the paint, continuing a season-long trend of dominating inside. The Grizzlies entered the game averaging an NBA-best 51.3 points in the paint.
O.J. Mayo scored 18 points for Memphis, which got just two from Mike Conley, but his defense on Chris Paul helped hold the star point guard scoreless for the first time in his career.
"Not a lot of people can do it," Conley said of shutting down Paul. "When I was in there, my job was to make it tough on him and not let him get in the paint, create too many plays or get too many shots up."
Conley's next test will be trying to slow down Portland's Andre Miller, who averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 assists and 3.0 steals in the first two meetings.
Memphis has won three of the last five matchups, and the 73 points Portland scored Dec. 13 were its fewest in 59 games in the all-time series.
The Grizzlies have won the last two meetings in Portland.
10:00 PM ET
Rose Garden, Portland, OR
The Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers are heading to the postseason. Which team each will be facing remains in doubt.
The picture will become a bit more clear Tuesday night when these teams meet in Portland.
The Blazers (47-33) can inch closer to locking up the Western Conference's sixth seed with a victory against the Grizzlies (46-34), who are one game back.
Portland has won two straight and four of five after beating the struggling Los Angeles Lakers 93-86 on Friday. LaMarcus Aldridge recorded his third straight double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Gerald Wallace added 19 points and 13 boards.
"You can't put too much on one game," Aldridge said. "But whenever you can beat the Lakers, the defending champs, it's always a good game."
The Blazers played without center Marcus Camby, who banged his head on the floor in a collision with Golden State's David Lee in a 108-87 loss last Tuesday. Camby has sat out the past two games with a strained neck, and his status for Tuesday is unclear.
Portland and Memphis have split two meetings this season, and the rubber match may have significant importance regarding playoff seeding.
Wesley Matthews scored a then-career-high 30 points in a 100-99 Blazers victory Nov. 16, then Zach Randolph helped the Grizzlies win 86-73 by scoring 25 points and grabbing 20 rebounds Dec. 13.
A Memphis victory Tuesday would tie it with Portland for the sixth seed, and if the teams go on to finish with the same record, the Grizzlies would hold the tiebreaker because of a better head-to-head mark.
Memphis rolled to its ninth win in 11 games Sunday, 111-89 against New Orleans. The Grizzlies have clinched their first playoff berth since 2005-06 and will be looking for their first postseason win after being swept in the franchise's first three appearances (0-12).
"We're still hungry. We're thirsty dogs," reserve forward Darrell Arthur said. "We're trying to go out there and win every game. We're not trying to just stop because we made the playoffs. It doesn't stop there. It stops when we lose in the playoffs."
Memphis outscored the Hornets 56-28 in the paint, continuing a season-long trend of dominating inside. The Grizzlies entered the game averaging an NBA-best 51.3 points in the paint.
O.J. Mayo scored 18 points for Memphis, which got just two from Mike Conley, but his defense on Chris Paul helped hold the star point guard scoreless for the first time in his career.
"Not a lot of people can do it," Conley said of shutting down Paul. "When I was in there, my job was to make it tough on him and not let him get in the paint, create too many plays or get too many shots up."
Conley's next test will be trying to slow down Portland's Andre Miller, who averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 assists and 3.0 steals in the first two meetings.
Memphis has won three of the last five matchups, and the 73 points Portland scored Dec. 13 were its fewest in 59 games in the all-time series.
The Grizzlies have won the last two meetings in Portland.
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