Memphis Grizzlies: Observing the March schedule
By Tony East
The last full month of the NBA season is here. Let’s take a look at the Memphis Grizzlies’ schedule over that span.
March is a weird month in the NBA. With the NCAA Tournament happening and featuring some games on TNT, there are fewer national TV games for the pros, and thus the league schedules fewer marquee matchups than in normal months.
Additionally, most teams know the final fate of their season at this point and are either pushing for the playoffs or tanking. That affects the talent and effort on the floor. The Memphis Grizzlies are probably in the latter group, and that makes their March schedule incredibly important.
In an ideal world, Memphis would like to play exclusively teams that are competing for a playoff berth. That would mean that they could focus on “player development” while playing these teams that would be focusing on winning, giving the Grizzlies the best chance to lose as many games as possible.
For instance, in the final game of February, the Grizzlies played against the Phoenix Suns. The two teams entered the game with a combined 36 wins and, let’s be honest, they both wanted to lose that game. The Grizzlies lost 110-102, and while the Suns fans were happy to see their team win, members of the organization were likely unhappy.
For the Grizzlies, the opposite is true, and that will be the case in most games of that variety in March. Let’s take a look at their schedule to determine which games are the most important, and which ones will impact the tank rank the most.
The first five games, in order, are against the Denver Nuggets, at the Orlando Magic, at the San Antonio Spurs, at the Chicago Bulls and then back at home for a game against the Utah Jazz.
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The Nuggets, Jazz and Spurs are all making a push for playoff seeding and have a combined record of 18-12 over their last 10 games. There is no reason to believe that the Grizzlies have the talent or desire to beat any of these teams.
The Bulls and Magic, however, are different. Like the Suns game, neither of these teams wants to win. The Grizzlies currently have two fewer wins than the Bulls, but their 18 wins match the Magic’s win total. That makes this game likely the most important of the month.
On Nov. 1, the Magic defeated the Grizzlies, 101-99. This means that if the Magic win again, not only will the Grizzlies get ahead of them in the tank race, but they will also clinch a tiebreaker in the race for the No. 1 pick. This game is of the utmost importance, and the Grizzlies will likely do a large amount of “player development” during their trip to Orlando.
The next five games for the Memphis Grizzlies are in Dallas, at home for the Bucks, Bulls and Nuggets, and then in Brooklyn to play the Nets.
This is an important stretch for Memphis. The Nuggets and Bucks will likely obtain easy wins against the Grizz, but the other three teams all stink and could pose a challenge to tanking.
Thankfully, Memphis has an advantage. The Dallas game is the second night of a back-to-back, meaning the Grizzlies will have a rest disadvantage and could easily lose. The Nets also stink, but they are not tanking since they do not have their first round pick. They are trying to win, and that suits Memphis well.
This will be the second game against Chicago in eight days. If the Grizzlies win twice, that may be great for building culture, but it will help the Bulls catch them in the race for the worst record. Memphis will likely try to lose at least one of these games, if not both, to stay ahead in the loss column and not “lose” the tiebreaker in the season series.
The final six games of the month are exactly what the Grizzlies front office wants to see. They close the St. Patrick’s Day month out with games against the 76ers, Hornets, Lakers, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers and Jazz, with the Lakers and Blazers games being the only two that will be played in Tennessee.
This is the ideal close to the month. The Lakers are the worst team of the bunch, but they don’t have their first round pick and will not be tanking. The other five teams will all be competing for playoff seeding, and thus they will likely walk all over the Grizzlies.
Of course, the Memphis Grizzlies will probably win some games they shouldn’t win and lose some games they shouldn’t lose. That being said, they only really play four games (Orlando, Brooklyn, and Chicago twice) against teams that they could reasonably be considered as good as, and they likely will get the Nets’ best efforts.
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Put it all together, and you see what could be a 3-13 or 4-12 month for the Memphis Grizzlies. Will the fans like it? No. Will Marc Gasol like it? Probably not. But will it help the Grizzlies tank? You bet, and that is what they are going to try and do.