After Saturday’s 115-109 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves one win away from returning to the Western Conference semifinals. To be able to sweep the Blazers would make a huge statement to the rest of the teams in the playoffs that the Grizzlies are here to play and should not be taken lightly.
Unfortunately, they are going to have to do it with their third-string point guard.
Starting point guard Mike Conley suffered a head injury during Saturday night’s game, bad enough that he had to be hospitalized for a time. He was hit in the eye/cheekbone area by an elbow from Trail Blazers’ guard C.J. McCollum that left him motionless on the floor for a few seconds.
Due to the injury and a concern over a concussion, the Grizzlies announced on Sunday that Conley will be going back to Memphis to be further evaluated and that he will not play in Monday’s decisive Game 4.
. @MConley11 will return to #Memphis for further evaluation of a facial injury sustained in Game3 vs #Blazers. He's out tmrw for Game4.
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) April 26, 2015
With the Grizzlies already missing backup point guard Beno Udrih due to a sprained ankle suffered earlier in the series, it will fall on 26-year-old Nick Calathes to lead his team to victory and a sweep of the Blazers. The 6-foot-6 guard, a second-year player out of Florida, averaged 4.2 points, 2.5 assists and 1.8 rebounds in the 58 games he played in this season.
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So is Calathes up to the task? He saw an expanded role towards the end of the season while Conley was dealing with a foot injury, but this will be the first time he will be under this kind of pressure as he tries to lead the Grizzlies to the second round of the playoffs.
To his credit, Calathes seemed more than ready to go into the game and make an impact after Conley was injured, scoring 13 points and having four assists in 27 minutes. Despite a late rally by the Trail Blazers that got the score as close as 94-91 in the fourth, the Grizzlies never let them get any closer.
Udrih did practice Sunday and should be available for Game 4, but you would have to imagine that head coach David Joerger would rather keep him on the bench for most of the game. If Conley is going to be out an extended period of time, it’s all the more important Udrih stays off his ankle and lets it heal.
That means Calathes will likely see extended minutes Monday and will be shouldering the bulk of the offensive responsibility. Thankfully, the Grizzlies have made a name for themselves with a stiffing defense that shuts their opponents down and wins games. But with a date with the incredibly talented Golden State Warriors on the horizon, the Grizzlies will need all the healthy bodies they can muster.
For second and especially third-string players, it’s all about waiting for your number to be called. You wait your entire career for a chance to show what you can do and impress your teammates. This is Calathes’ moment to shine and show everyone that he is capable of leading the Grizzlies beyond the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Tonight, Nick Calathes has a date with destiny. For his sake and for the Grizzlies, he’d better be ready.
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