Clippers at Grizzlies
The battle for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs takes center stage Saturday when the Los Angeles Clippers visit the Memphis Grizzlies. The Clippers enter as the fourth seed based on their Pacific Division crown, but the fifth-place Grizzlies own a better record by one game and would be awarded home-court if that remains the case and the two teams meet in the first round. Both teams have three games remaining.
Also at stake for both Los Angeles and Memphis is a pursuit of third-seeded Denver, which has the same record as the Grizzlies and is one game up on the Clippers. The scenarios are enough to make the head spin, but both teams can grab hold of their destiny with a victory. Los Angeles has taken two of the first three meetings and enters having won four straight overall after a 96-93 win in New Orleans on Friday. Memphis, which has won 13 straight at home, survived a late swoon to win 82-78 in Houston on Friday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), SportSouth (Memphis), NBATV
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (53-26): The final score in the win over New Orleans suggests a hard-fought road victory over a team with nothing to lose. In actuality, Los Angeles played some extremely sluggish basketball for the bulk of the game before a phenomenal rally in the fourth. The Clippers somehow managed to score 31 points in the final 6:52 to save themselves from what would've been a damaging defeat. Los Angeles allowed a shorthanded Hornets squad to grab 19 offensive boards and made just 7-of-26 3-pointers.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (54-25): In a matchup between Memphis' vaunted defense and Houston's league-leading offense, the Grizzlies were in charge on Friday. They limited the Rockets to 31.1 percent shooting while committing only seven turnovers. If not for a dry spell of over five minutes down the stretch, Memphis would've run away with what ended up being its seventh win in eight games. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph had 15 points apiece for the Grizzlies, whose last home loss came Feb. 5 against Phoenix.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Gasol led five players in double figures with 21 points as Memphis won the previous meeting between the teams on March 13 in Los Angeles.
2. The Grizzlies have held all eight opponents during their 7-1 stretch under 100 points.
3. Clippers G Chauncey Billups (groin) sat out his seventh straight game Friday.
PREDICTION: Grizzlies 90, Clippers 86