Nuggets at Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies’ collective inability to stay on the court is making the race for the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference much more interesting than it looked a week ago. The Grizzlies will try to keep some space between themselves and the Portland Trail Blazers and snap a three-game slide when they host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Memphis is 2 1/2 games clear of Portland for No. 5 but is dealing with a rash of injuries matched only by the New Orleans Pelicans as the regular season winds to a close. The Grizzlies lost star center Marc Gasol (foot) for the season and won’t have point guard Mike Conley (Achilles) until the end of the regular season while Zach Randolph struggles through a sprained ankle and role players Brandan Wright (knee) and P.J. Hairston (groin) each nurse injuries. The Nuggets are missing their leading scorer in Danilo Gallinari (ankle) but are laying the groundwork for next season as opposed to gearing up for the playoffs. Denver has dropped two in a row and managed an average of 89 points in those games while frustrating coach Michael Malone with turnovers.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (31-44): Denver committed 21 turnovers in a 97-88 loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday after giving it away 15 times in a 105-90 setback at the Los Angeles Clippers the previous day. "I give (Dallas) no credit at all - we beat ourselves," Malone told reporters after Monday’s loss. "We made mistake after mistake after mistake. We talked about it in the first quarter, had seven turnovers for 10 points. Talked about it at halftime, came out in the third quarter and had seven more turnovers for 10 points." Four of those turnovers on Monday came from rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who had not committed more than two in any of the previous six contests.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (41-33): Memphis is splitting the point guard duties between journeyman Jordan Farmar and rookie Xavier Munford, both of whom were signed by the team within the last two weeks. The Grizzlies were led in scoring on Monday by 14 points off the bench from 39-year-old Vince Carter while JaMychal Green’s 12 points paced the starters. “It is very challenging,” swingman Lance Stephenson told reporters. “We got a lot of guys out but we just got to keep playing hard. No excuses. We got the talent. We just got to come in focused and play hard.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets SF Will Barton is shooting 55.8 percent from the floor in the last five games, including 11-of-21 from 3-point range.
2. Hairston has missed the last seven games but is the most likely to return by Wednesday.
3. Memphis has taken five straight in the series, but each of the last three meetings have been decided by single digits.