Memphis Grizzlies: Adapting To Life Without Mike Conley

By D. Goodman | May 1, 2015

Apr 25, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) winces in pain after taking an elbow from Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /

Everyone knew that when Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley went down with a facial injury in the third quarter of Game 3 last Saturday, it would be a huge loss for the team. Before anyone even knew Conley’s condition or prognosis, you could tell it was going to be a bad one that would sideline the Grizzlies’ starting point guard for more than just a game.

With backup Beno Udrih dealing with a sprained ankle, it fell to Nick Calathes to step up and lead the Grizzlies to their first ever playoff sweep in franchise history against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4.

But despite a strong performance by both, combining for 25 points and six assists, the Grizzlies couldn’t get their highly vaunted defense to click when it counted most, resulting in a 99-92 loss.

No team has ever come back from being down 3-0 in a playoff series in the history of the NBA and it turned out that the Trail Blazers were not going to be the team to change that. Despite the loss of Conley, the Grizzlies finally put an end to Portland’s season with a 99-93 win on Wednesday night.

Shooting guard Courtney Lee stepped up and finished the night with 20 points while Marc Gasol added another 26 in addition to 14 rebounds.

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Now the Grizzlies get a short break as they prepare to face what could arguably be the best team in the playoffs right now, the Golden State Warriors, in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.

And from all indications, they are going to have to do it without Conley.

Conley had surgery last Monday to repair the damage done from his injury and it required two plates and screws installed in his face. The healing time to recover from something like this is usually 4-6 weeks so, even though Conley told Sean d’Oliveira of CBS Sports.com “We’re hopeful that it’ll be sooner than later” in regards to his return to the court, odds are Conley will miss the entire series against the Warriors.

So the question becomes: what do the Grizzlies do now?

What the Grizzlies have to be thinking about is how to adapt to life without Conley running the offense in the long-term. Once the team has a better handle on exactly how long Conley will be out it will be easier to form a plan, but the possibility is that the Grizzlies are looking at being without their talented floor general for the duration of the playoffs.

It’s not like they haven’t done it before, managing to go 8-4 when Conley was unavailable behind strong minutes from Udrih and Calathes. But if they want to beat the Warriors, who have looked unstoppable as of late, it will fall on the shoulders of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

Randolph finished Game 5 with 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting while Gasol finished shooting 9-of-15 and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. Neither of the Grizzlies big men had a particularly good series against the Trail Blazers and if they plan to give the Warriors a run for their money, that will have to change.

Both will need to get more involved in the offense and get used to scoring when the floor isn’t quite as spaced out as either is used to. Their play in Game 5 was a step in the right direction, but it will have to be much more consistent to beat a team as good as the Warriors.

The Grizzlies have shown they can win without Conley as long as the rest of the team steps up and does their part. Both Udrih and Calathes have demonstrated they are more than capable of filling their injured starting point guard’s shoes. Now they and the rest of the Grizzlies, including Lee and veteran Vince Carter, need to adapt to the changes forced upon them if they hope to return to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2013.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Second Round Series

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