Memphis is setting all types of records this year. First an 11 game home winning streak, then Z-Bo becomes the signle season leader in double doubles, next came the record for consecutive road wins and now the record for consecutive home losses. What a strange season this is turning out to be. O J Mayo's game is back on track even if his free throw shooting isn't. Rudy Gay continues to make big plays. Z-Bo and Gasol are double-double machines but the Grizzlies still can't find consistent production from their bench and big early leads are lost as the starters simply run out of gas against the elite teams they have been playing at home lately. That streak could end tonight as the Nets are not an elite team and have apparently thrown in the towel lately. The problem is the Grizzlies can't get over-confident as the Nets barely lost to the Grizzlies just a few weeks ago.  

New Jersey is shaping up to be one of the worst teams in a generation and possibly the worst team of all time in the NBA. And to think that a lot of local people complained that the Grizzlies hired Chris Wallace instead of Kiki Vandeweghe as General manager. Kiki's out as GM of the Nets and likely will be out as coach as soon as the season ends while Wallace is looking at getting an extension very soon. New Jersey is starting an odd assortment of players currently but one of them is former Tiger great Chris Douglas Roberts. New Jersey has two promising young players in Brook Lopez and Devin Harris but little else to be optimistic about. The one thing New Jersey has going for them is the attempt to win back to back games for the first time this season.  

Position Breakdown: 

Point Guards: Mike Conley vs Devin Harris
Mike Conley has picked up his game since the All-Star break and is starting to look more and more comfortable running the point but Memphis fans have seen similar stretches from Conley before only to watch him revert to the tentative PG who panicked at open shots. Only time will tell if he has finally started to develop confidence in his game or not. Harris has struggled with injuries and his shooting touch this season which could have as much to do with his lack of viable options as his poor shooting ability. Harris was red hot against the Knicks but that could be more a function of the Knicks defense as Harris' hotness. 

Advantage: New Jersey

 
Shooting Guards: O J Mayo vs Courtney Lee
Courtney Lee was traded to New Jersey as the main piece the Nets were getting for unloading Vince Carter. So far they have been disappointed in his production but the 2nd year player out of Western Kentucky still has some time to grow. The 24 yr old has missed some games due to injury this season as well. At 6-5 Lee is slightly undersized to play the 2 guard but he is strong and is able to get his shot off. Mayo won't be as overmatched this time which should only help his game find the shooting touch he seemed to have lost after the Lakers loss. 

Advantage: Memphis

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Small Forwards: Rudy Gay vs Trenton Hassell
Hassell has become the sacrificial lamb du jour for the Nets at Small Forward. He gets to start but the majority of time seems to be going to rookie Terrance Williams. Hassell is a defensive specialist who is 31 yrs old and losing a step. He's also very undersized to play Small Forward and will very outclassed by Rudy Gay in almost every way. Rudy hasn't broken 20 pts in a game in March and has seen his scoring averaged drop below 20 ppg as a result but that doesn't mean he hasn't been playing well. Rudy's had back to back games of 5 steals this month and has yet to grab at least 5 rebounds in a game this month as well. His shooting percentage isn't that low either he is just sharing the ball more. 

Advantage: Memphis

 
Power Forwards: Zach Randolph vs Kris Humphries
Z-Bo had a rare off night against the Spurs but Tim Duncan has a way of doing that to people. Even with the sub-par effort Z-Bo is averaging 24.4 ppg and 13.6 rpg over the last games. Almost as impressive, Z-Bo is playing at least token defense averaging a steal a game over that time frame and nearly half a block a game. For a man who admits struggling to dunk the ball that is quite an accomplishment. While no one is positive who will start at PF for New Jersey with Yi out it is likely Kris Humphries. Humphries will make Z-Bo work for everything he gets. Lacking the bulk to play the fur full time and the quickness to guard the hole, Humphries makes up for his physical deficiencies by working as hard as possible when he's on the court. 

Advantage: Memphis

 
Centers: Marc Gasol vs Brook Lopez
Gasol has played great in his second year in the NBA, with 14.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Lopez also has played well in his sophomore year and has been the leader of the Nets. This is a very tough matchup to call. Lopez has 19 PPG and 8.9 RPG. It's going to be a very even matchup in my opinion. Both have been putting up numbers and have the same size, strength, and agility. 

Advantage: New Jersey 

  

Benches: Memphis vs New Jersey
New Jersey has lost Yi Jianlian for this game and that will make it difficult for the Nets to spread out the court and give room for Lopez to operate underneath. However the story Memphis fans want to know about has more to do with CDR's return to Memphis than anything else. CDR began the season on fire for the Nets scoring 17 ppg in November and looking like the CDR Memphis fans watched for years. Things haven't gone well since that time however as his playing time has fallen, his attitude tanked and his shooting percentage followed. CDR has averaged a meager 18.5 mpg over the last 10 games. New Jersey's bench has little else to offer however. Memphis' bench gets a return from Hasheem Thabeet after serving a 6 game training camp in the NBDL. Thabeet played well in the D-League and everyone is hoping he shows some of that same passion when he gets into a game with the big team. Marcus Williams, Sam Young and Darrell Arthur have played acceptable minutes at times over the last few games and Haddadi has shown that he is just slightly better than Thabeet in his minutes.   

Advantage: New Jersey

Other Commentary:
Nets Are Scorching - ESPN True Hoop's Nets Blog
Beyond the Arc 
Grizzed by VanJulio 
Straight Out of Vancouver 
David Loves the Grizzlies
Grizzfans.com
Grizzlife

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