2024-25 Season | Game #66 | Cavs @ Grizzlies | March 14, 2025

Wham with the Right Hand

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With a chance to set a season high with 16 straight wins the Cavs arrive in Memphis for a rematch with the Grizzlies, who they beat in Cleveland on Feb. 23 by a 129-123 score. The Cavs were without Darius Garland but still managed to pull out a win. The Grizzlies are 42-24 and in 3rd place in the West, 0.5 games behind Denver and 0.5 games ahead of the Lakers. Obviously this game is way more important to Memphis than it is to the Cavs.

The Grizzlies are 24-10 at home but just 12-18 against teams .500 and over. They are 27-9 against losing teams so they appear to be one of those teams like the Knicks that consistently beat up on the bad teams but don’t do very well against winners.

The Grizzlies have won four in a row but those wins were against some very bad teams; Dallas (without Kyrie and Luka), New Orleans, Phoenix and Utah. Before that they lost 7 of 9, so it’s hard to tell how well they’re playing now.

Jaren Jackson Jr is a game time decision and that is significant. Jackson scored 22 points against the Cavs in the first game. He leads the Grizzlies in scoring at 22.7 ppg on 49.7% from the field. He also leads in blocked shots. His backup, Santi Aldama, is out, so if Jackson can't go the Grizzlies will be down to their third power forward going against Evan Mobley.

The Grizzlies are second to the Cavs in points per game, so this game features the two highest scoring teams in the league. Memphis ranks 2nd in points in the paint and 9th in fast break points. They lead the league in field goal attempts per game and are 8th in effective field goal percentage. They’re only 21st in 3-point rate so they prefer to attack the rim. They’re 10th in 3-point percentage, however. They draw a lot of fouls, ranking 5th in free throw attempts per possession.
Even when they miss they’re a problem as they rank 2nd in offensive rebound percentage. The only thing they are below average offensively is turnover rate, where they rank 23rd.

They’re below average defensively, ranking 25th in opponents’ points per game. The Cavs scored 129 on them without Darius. They’re solid in the paint, ranking 13th, and defending the 3-pointer, where they also rank 13th. But they allow a lot of shots (25th) and they’re below average at defensive rebounding (20th). They’re 12th in forcing turnovers.

If Jackson can't go they won’t be as good defensively.

Ja Morant is their second leading scorer at 21.7 ppg and 7.5 assists. He is shooting 44% overall and 28% on 3’s, so he has not been very efficient. Desmond Bane is having a great year at 18.7 points on 49% and 37%. Seven-footer Santi Aldama averages 13 points and 7 rebounds but is out as noted above. If both he and Jackson are out it will cripple their defense and rebounding.

Sharpshooter Luke Kennard is coming off a 30-point game against Utah on Wednesday. He scored 19 points in 26 minutes against the Cavs last month on 6-for-8 from the field. They can’t let him take open 3’s; he’ll knock them down all night. For the season he’s hitting 45% which leads the NBA.

In the first game the Cavs were awful on 3’s, making just 13-of-47 for 28%. They also missed 11 free throws (24-for-35) but still scored 129 points. It’s scary to think how many they would have put up with just an average shooting night. Mobley had 25 points on 1-for-8 on 3’s and 9-for-12 on 2’s. Mitchell had 33 and Jerome 26 off the bench. Wade and Hunter combined to go 0-for-7 on 3’s.

The keys to this game will be to shoot better, especially on 3's and free throws, and to not let Kennard have a big game off the bench.

Donovan Mitchell will be out for the second consecutive game with a groin injury. Darius Garland is 4-for-19 on 3’s in his last two games. Even in his 30-point game against Brooklyn he was just 3-for-11.

The Cavs have had two days off going into this one while the Grizzlies had one. The Grizzlies are tough at home but they are missing Jackson and have not done well against teams over .500 and the Cavs are over .500 by more than anybody. The Grizzlies are fighting for the #2 seed and to stay out of the #4 seed so every game is huge for them. The Cavs have less motivation but more talent.

This one could go either way, although not having Mitchell will make it tough for the Cavs. The Cavs won the first game with Garland out and awful 3-point and free throw shooting, so if they can shoot better and not have to deal with Jaren Jackson’s defense they could have another 130-point game.

After the win in Cleveland, in which the Cavs outrebounded the Grizzlies 57-37 and had 22 offensive rebounds, Atkinson had this:
"We upped our physicality,” Atkinson said. “I felt like physically we, you could say, dominated. That’s really tough against a team like this when that’s their identity. We kind of turned that on them."

I’m sure that going into this one the Memphis coaches will point out that the Cavs destroyed them on the offensive glass and after the game Atkinson told the media that “physically we dominated”. I’m sure the Grizzlies will come out super aggressive and make it a priority NOT to be dominated this time.

Lately the Cavs have been playing just well enough to win. If they're playing a bad team they play down to their level, get behind, and then come back to win. If they're playing a good team they increase the intensity like they did a few weeks ago against Memphis. It will be interesting to see if they can up the intensity enough to get their 16th straight win playing on the road without Donovan against a quality team that needs every win they can get.
 
Donovan being out again for this game is a big blow. Memphis is our toughest matchup the rest of the season.

Hunter is also a game time decision, so not sure we'll have him either.

At least we've got Jerome back.
 
Memphis and Denver are now tied for 2nd at 12.0 games behind OKC while the Lakers and Rockets are tied for 4th at 13.0 games out. So these four teams are all within a game of each other in the battle for the 2-5 seeds. The 2 seed gets HCA in the first two rounds while the 5 seed never gets HCA.

It's going to be a dogfight between these four teams the rest of the way with every game being potentially the difference between the 2 and 5 seed. The Cavs game is much more important to the Grizzlies than to the Cavs and they are at home.

However, Santi Aldama is out and if Jackson is also out the Grizzlies will be in a tough spot missing their top two power forwards. They would be missing two of their top four scorers and rebounders. The Cavs dominated the glass in the first meeting 57-37 with Jackson and Aldama combining for 37 points and 9 rebounds.

Evan Mobley had 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists in that game so imagine if he didn't have to deal with Jackson and Aldama. Those two have the best plus/minuses on the team according to cleaningtheglass.com. Jackson is easily the team's best defensive player as the Grizzlies are 7.3 points better defensively when he's on the floor. He was the 2022-23 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is currently dealing with an ankle injury and is listed as questionable for the upcoming game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This follows a series of ankle issues that have kept him out of several recent games, where he has not played in the last two matchups against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns.

So even if Jackson can go he may not be 100% and he will not have played in 11 days.
 
So weird to see a Memphis team that are bad defensively, I feel like it was their entire franchises identity
 
Gonna be tough without Spyda. Garland, Ty and Mobely gotta step up. Allen gotta hit the boards heavy. Hope that Hunter plays.
 
As long as Ty is doing Ty Jerome stuff, and we have the rest of our main bench players available, I never feel were at a big disadvantage when Garland or Mitchell is out, now this is no shade on either one of them, because come playoff time I’m not gonna feel that way…… but when one is out you see a little bit more of a dominant player from one and they usually up their usage…..
 
Let's get Deaner going offensively in this one. If he can start somewhat consistently making his threes we're basically unbeatable . . .
 
I am afraid this is where the streak ends boys. Looks like no Mitchell since the ESPN site said players to watch was Mobley when it is always Mitchell when he plays. I would assume everyone else is playing but not going to beat the 2nd place West team without your best player on the road.
It would been nice to break that 15 game streak we started the year with but looks like that won't be happening now.
 
I am afraid this is where the streak ends boys. Looks like no Mitchell since the ESPN site said players to watch was Mobley when it is always Mitchell when he plays. I would assume everyone else is playing but not going to beat the 2nd place West team without your best player on the road.
It would been nice to break that 15 game streak we started the year with but looks like that won't be happening now.
Bookmarked.
 
Grrr! I was quite upset that Mitchell is out. (Dare I say they're milking Mitchell's groin injury???) Having Jerome back will help a lot. I hope Hunter plays. I expect him to.

Garland will score at least 30 points and we'll shoot better than we did in the first game, so that's at least 130 for us. Will we hold the under 130? Let's say we do.

130-127, Cavs.
 
I am afraid this is where the streak ends boys. Looks like no Mitchell since the ESPN site said players to watch was Mobley when it is always Mitchell when he plays. I would assume everyone else is playing but not going to beat the 2nd place West team without your best player on the road.
It would been nice to break that 15 game streak we started the year with but looks like that won't be happening now.
You keep throwing shit against the wall, hoping some of it will stick. Eventually if it does, that does not mean you actually know anything. It just means you like to throw shit at walls.
 
I am afraid this is where the streak ends boys. Looks like no Mitchell since the ESPN site said players to watch was Mobley when it is always Mitchell when he plays. I would assume everyone else is playing but not going to beat the 2nd place West team without your best player on the road.
It would been nice to break that 15 game streak we started the year with but looks like that won't be happening now.
You are the finest good luck charm ever. You know how to stay in your lane. Never change.

This somewhat reminds me of the plot for the movie "The Cooler" with William H. Macy.
 
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