Clippers at Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies hope to have power forward Zach Randolph back in the lineup when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. Randolph has missed back-to-back contests due to treatments for an ingrown toenail and his services will certainly be needed against the Clippers after his big outing against them earlier this season. Randolph had 26 points and 15 rebounds and now-injured Marc Gasol added 23 points as the Grizzlies recorded a 106-102 win in Los Angeles on Nov. 18.
The Clippers are playing the second contest of a seven-game road trip that began poorly with a 107-97 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Coach Doc Rivers was unhappy over the effort displayed and made sure his team was aware of that. “We can’t waltz into games. We know that,” Rivers said. “In this league, if you waltz into any game, you can lose. That’s a fact. Every game is an individual game. I try not to get too high and low with that stuff.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), SportSouth (Memphis)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (12-7): Los Angeles scores plenty of points but defensive deficiencies have been plaguing the club in the first 19 games of the campaign. The Clippers give up an average of 102.1 points – ranking in the bottom third of the league – and allowed Atlanta’s Kyle Korver to make six 3-pointers on Wednesday as the Hawks were 12-of-23 overall from behind the arc. “We’ve got to find our defensive identity,” point guard Chris Paul said afterward. “That starts with us in the locker room. We know what to do. We’ve just got to stop talking about it and just do it and figure out how to stop teams.”
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (9-8): The absence of Gasol remains a big one, and Randolph’s toe woes created opportunities for Ed Davis and Jon Leuer to come up big during Tuesday’s victory over the Phoenix Suns. Leuer scored a career-high 23 points and matched a career best with nine rebounds while Davis added 21 points and 12 rebounds. “I think early in the game, getting in there and grabbing a few rebounds and knocking my first couple of shots down and getting easy baskets (helped),” Leuer said afterward. “You get into a rhythm after that.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Memphis snapped a four-game home losing streak with Tuesday’s 110-91 victory over the Suns.
2. Los Angeles shot just 39.5 percent from the floor, including 7-of-23 from 3-point range, in last month’s loss to the Grizzlies.
3. Memphis C Kosta Koufos is averaging 12.3 rebounds in four games since replacing Gasol in the starting lineup.