Preview: Atlanta At Memphis
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, November 27, 2015
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
The Memphis Grizzlies are shaking off a slow start with wins in six of their last seven games while turning the defense back into a strong unit. The Grizzlies will try to hold their fifth straight opponent under 100 points when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Memphis struggled to get the offense and defense to perform on the same night during a 3-6 start but had six players score in double figures and held the Houston Rockets without a field goal for a 10-minute stretch in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 102-93 triumph. “We are playing more consistent defensively,” Grizzlies center Marc Gasol told reporters. “I think we’re playing together and moving the ball offensively, trying to find open guys.” The Hawks failed to put together strong offensive performances on back-to-back nights and suffered a 99-95 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday after crushing Boston 121-97 the previous night at home. The Hawks shot 56.3 percent from the floor against the Celtics but managed only 37.8 percent against the Timberwolves.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta, Memphis)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (10-7): Consistency is a big problem of late for Atlanta, which traded wins and losses in its last four games and dropped five of its last seven. The Hawks failed to score 100 points in any of those five setbacks but are slowly seeing positives from sharpshooter Kyle Korver, who had a rough start to the season following offseason ankle surgery but is 11-of-18 from 3-point range over the last four games. “We play a lot of games every year and you’ve got to be able to get yourself up every night,” Korver told reporters after the loss to Minnesota. “I thought we played hard.”
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (9-7): Memphis shot just under 50 percent from the field (39-of-80) at Houston but continues to struggle from 3-point range and hit just 3-of-16 from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies are near the bottom of the league in 3-pointers made but Courtney Lee, who went 0-of-3 from beyond the arc on Wednesday while knocking down 8-of-11 inside the arc, believes that will change. “The 3-ball will fall for us eventually,” Lee told reporters. “But as long as we keep doing those things and helping each other out on the defensive end and executing on the offensive end, we will be alright.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies PG Mike Conley is the lone 3-point exception for the team and is 13-of-24 from beyond the arc in the last six contests.
2. Atlanta F Paul Millsap has three double-doubles in the last four games.
3. The teams split two meetings last season, with the home team winning each contest.
PREDICTION: Grizzlies 96, Hawks 95