Grizzlies at Clippers
The Memphis Grizzlies are getting into a bad habit of suffering lopsided losses against quality opponents. The Grizzlies will try to snap out of that funk when finish up a brutal five-game road trip at the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
Memphis began the trip with a 50-point loss at Golden State and dropped a 115-96 decision at Portland before falling to 1-3 on the excursion with an 89-79 setback at Utah on Saturday. “We just have to play harder, Grizzlies basketball,” power forward Zach Randolph told reporters. “It’s tough right now. We are better than what we have shown.” The Clippers are in the midst of their own rough stretch and lost to last spring’s Western Conference finalists in back-to-back games. Los Angeles, which began the season with four straight victories, fell to Golden State and Houston by a total of eight points.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Memphis), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (3-4): Memphis began the season with a 106-76 home loss to Cleveland and claims its only wins against teams that finished last season with losing records (Indiana, Brooklyn and Sacramento). Marc Gasol was searching for answers on Saturday after the team fell into another large deficit and failed to claw its way back. “We need to be more disciplined, it is that simple,” Gasol told reporters. “The way we played defense, five guys didn’t run back and five guys didn’t stay together. Makes it tough. We have to communicate better.”
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (4-2): Chris Paul suffered a groin injury late in the loss to Golden State and did not play in Saturday’s loss to the Rockets. “The rotation was a little different,” guard J.J. Redick told reporters. “Chris (Paul) has just such a command of the game. We definitely missed him.” Austin Rivers got the start at point guard and handed out one assist in 31 minutes in place of Paul, who is day-to-day.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clippers F Blake Griffin has recorded three straight double-doubles.
2. Memphis F Matt Barnes is shooting 28.8 percent from the field.
3. The teams split four meetings last season, with Los Angeles claiming the final two.