After showing signs of life late in Wednesday's game at Sacramento, the Memphis Grizzlies (2-3) will try to build on that strong finish and pick up their second win of the week against the Golden State Warriors (2-3) tonight in Oakland, a place where they have lost four straight.
One of the most promising signs from that game that the Grizzlies hope continues tonight is the long-range shooting that had eluded them in their previous games. After struggling from 3-point range in the first few games of the season, they connected on 11 3's against the Kings, led by O.J. Mayo's six. On the season the team is knocking down 31 percent of its attempts.
The Grizzlies need to shoot the ball better from inside the arc and put together strings of productive possessions to avoid damaging runs by the Warriors that could quickly take them out of the game. Their field goal percentage should be at least three to four points higher than it was against the Kings.
The Warriors feature a balanced scoring attack that can pose problems for the Grizzlies. That makes it critical for the Grizzlies to be quick in rotating their defense around to cover the shooters and not focus too much of their effort in shutting down any single player.
Marc Gasol needs to forget about the difficulty he had scoring against the Kings and focus on doing what made him successful in Monday's win when he put up career-high numbers. Based on that performance he knows that he can have his way with Brandan Wright, Ronny Turiaf and the other Warrior forwards when they are forced to cover him. Even Andris Biedrins isn't quite strong enough to slow Gasol much. If he is aggressive on both ends of the floor it will go a long way toward helping the Grizzlies end their road woes.
Finally, Rudy Gay needs to show up. His contributions to the team in all aspects of the game are crucial to the team's success. Monday's goal was 30 points, but 18 turned out to be good enough to get the job done. After an off night against Sacramento, he needs a solid 20-point effort. Hopefully he will knock down a few early shots tonight to get his confidence back.
Keywords: Golden State Warriors, Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies, Rudy Gay
