Rudy Gay makes his return to Memphis for the first time as a visiting player when the Toronto Raptors take on the host Grizzlies on Wednesday. Gay played six-plus seasons for the Grizzlies before being traded to Toronto last season, and he's still the franchise leader in steals, games and minutes and ranks second in points. Neither his former team nor his current one - which Gay leads in scoring at 19.2 points - has done much to be excited about this season, as both are sitting below .500.
Memphis has been the model of inconsistency, alternating wins and losses in its first seven contests, and is coming off a 95-79 thumping at Indiana on Monday. The Raptors have lost four of their last five, including a 110-104 double-overtime defeat at Houston on Monday. The Grizzlies have won nine of 12 all-time meetings in Memphis and eight of the last nine overall.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, RSN (Toronto), SportSouth (Memphis)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (3-5): The Raptors have been terrific on the boards, leading the NBA in offensive rebounds (14.9) and second-chance points (21.3). They haven't done much else well at the offensive end, though, shooting a paltry 41.9 percent and ranking 19th in the league at 96.6 points per game. Toronto has been solid at the defensive end at times, especially on the perimeter, but hasn't been able to consistently get stops against quality teams.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (3-4): Memphis rode a dominant defense to the Western Conference finals a year ago but has not been nearly as stingy this year, allowing 98.9 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting. The offensive production hasn't been terribly impressive, either, as the Grizzlies rank in the bottom third of the league in scoring. The exception is point guard Mike Conley, who is shooting 50.5 percent from the field and averaging a career-best 18.9 points to go with 5.3 assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Grizzlies are 43-4 since the start of the 2011-12 season when scoring at least 100 points, and two of the four losses have come in overtime.
2. Memphis has been doomed by slow starts, averaging 20.9 points in the first quarter - second-fewest in the league.
3. Seven of Toronto's eight games have been decided by nine points or fewer.