Though many basketball pundits projected Memphis to finish in the lower half of the Western Conference playoff standings, the Grizzlies have shattered their expectations by clawing their way up to second place. Their 39-14 record is the second-best in the Western Conferences, and they’ve had numerous overtime thrillers thus far.
Memphis is having one of the absolute greatest seasons in their franchise’s history — if not the best — and they’re doing it in a historic fashion.
Marc Gasol became the first Grizzly to start in an All-Star Game. He contributed six points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two steals the West’s 163-158 victory over the East. Gasol has played an integral part in the Grizzlies’ success this year, and coincidentally he’s had his fair share of clutch moments.
Post All-Star break, the Grizzlies have a legitimate shot at garnering their best regular season ever. Memphis’ 39 wins so far is a franchise record for wins prior to the All-Star break. By comparison, the Grizzlies team that made a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2013 didn’t reach 39 wins until March 3, and they went on to record a franchise record of 56 wins.
With 29 games remaining on the schedule, the Grizzlies will need just 18 wins to set a new record. They have 13 remaining home games; of their remaining road games, six are against teams currently worse than .500. Should the Grizzlies defeat all the weaker teams on the road and take care of business at the Grindhouse, they would undoubtedly achieve the groundbreaking record.
Nonetheless, only four of their 13 remaining home games are against sub-.500 teams. Thus, a plethora of their games wil be against playoff teams; however, the Grizzlies’ nucleus of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen are known to lock in to playoff mode after the All-Star break.
They’ve gone an incredible 54-17 in the last two years post All-Star weekend, winning 76 percent of their games.
Additionally, the extended break along with the added motivation for Randolph and Conley to prove that they’re worthy of being named All-Stars should propel Memphis to a dominant run.
All throughout the Grizzlies’ 13 years in Memphis, they’ve never gotten close to raising a division championship banner — until this season.
The San Antonio Spurs have perennially won the division title, and if the Grizzlies manage to usurp the Spurs this year, it’d mean that they beat out the last two Western Conference clubs to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy (the Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks).
The Southwest Division is undeniably the toughest division in the league, and conquering it would further prove that this is the greatest Grizzlies team ever assembled.
The previous sentence is far from an exaggeration. Marc Gasol is the league’s best center, Mike Conley is one of the most clutch players in the league, Zach Randolph has reverted back to being a nightly double-double machine, and Tony Allen is once again a “First Team” All-Defense animal.
The Grizzlies hold a unique balance of strong camaraderie and exemplary talent — both of which are of utmost importance to winning an NBA championship. Whether they attain basketball immortality or not is yet to be seen, but the journey to the top is sure to be a thrilling one nonetheless.
Next: Should More All-Stars Have Come Out Of Memphis?
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