Grizzlies at Cavaliers
A stretch of seven straight games against sub-.500 opponents will come to an abrupt end for the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, when they hit the road for a visit to the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. The Grizzlies were crushed at home 106-76 by the Cavaliers on Oct. 28 and seemed to be looking ahead to the rematch when they closed out their homestand with a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
The Cavaliers are wrapping up a four-game homestand on Monday and came together over the last week after dropping two in a row at home. Cleveland blew out Washington 108-83 to avenge a loss on Friday and showed no drop-off on the second night of a back-to-back Saturday, recovering from an early 18-point deficit to cruise past the Boston Celtics 120-103. “I liked the fact that we took the challenge,” Cavaliers star LeBron James told reporters after Saturday’s win. “We took their biggest hit that they could give us and responded the best way we know how – by defending and sharing the ball.” The Grizzlies went 5-2 in their stretch against losing teams, with both loses coming against the Suns, and sit in fifth place in the West.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southeast (Memphis), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (37-25): Memphis struggled against Phoenix’s size in the frontcourt with center Marc Gasol (foot) out and allowed the Suns to shoot 52.1 percent from the field. “We’re a team that’s going to struggle to score when we’re the way we are right now offensively, so we’ve got to play great, great defense,” Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger told reporters. “Our defense has taken a couple steps back so we’ve got to keep building the trust.” Memphis could get a big piece of their defense back on Monday in guard Tony Allen, who sat out the last eight games with a knee injury but is close to a return.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (44-17): Getting his teammates to step up and pick up some of the slack has been a concern for James in the past, but Cleveland has looked like a most cohesive unit during the homestand. The play of the reserves was especially notable on Saturday, with Iman Shumpert recording 12 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two steals to lead the way. “It was a great team win,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue told reporters. “We had eight guys in double figures. (Shumpert), defensively was awesome. He rebounded the ball and made his shots. If he continues to play like that, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers F Kevin Love is 18-of-57 from the floor over his last five games.
2. Memphis F Chris Andersen (shoulder) left Sunday’s game and is day-to-day.
3. Cleveland has taken the last three meetings by an average of 22 points.