Grizzlies at Nuggets
Mike Conley is fresh off the highest-scoring game of his career and the point guard looks to post another stellar outing when the Memphis Grizzlies visit the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Conley poured in a career-best 38 points as Memphis improved to 2-1 on its six-game road trip with a 115-96 rout of the Phoenix Suns on Monday.
First-year coach David Fizdale has been urging Conley to be more of a sharpshooter and he looked the part while making 12-of-18 shots — including 7-of-10 from 3-point range — against the Suns. "He's had a few other games like that," Fizdale told reporters. "I'm giving him the green light to do it all the time. He has that opportunity to go after big games like that. I love it when he's aggressive and he really inspires guys when he plays like that." Denver dropped a 120-116 decision to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday as a three-game winning streak reached an end. Center Nikola Jokic, who had nine double-doubles in January, missed the last two games with a hip flexor and could sit again versus the Grizzlies.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Memphis), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (29-21): Conley is averaging 30.5 points on 21-of-32 shooting over the past two games and said he is enjoying the freedom that allowed him to match his career high for 3-pointers and surpass his previous scoring high by two points. "I had it going and guys were so unselfish getting me the ball and telling me to shoot it," Conley told reporters. "It was fun to be in that kind of environment. I knew I was coming out and so I was going to shoot every time I got it. It was fun." All-Star center Marc Gasol has also been superb of late and is averaging 27.8 over the past eight games.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (21-26): Jokic averaged 23.9 points and 11.1 rebounds and shot 60.6 percent from the floor in January as he continues his development into Denver's go-to player. Small forward Danilo Gallinari remains Denver's best all-around scorer but the 21-year-old Jokic's emergence has added an intriguing dynamic even though coach Michael Malone told reporters the system remains the same. "There are a lot of people who think we have two completely different offenses, one with Jokic and one without," Malone said. "Nikola Jokic is a terrific young player, but he is not our team. The real strength of our team is the quality of depth that we have."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Gasol scored a buzzer-beating basket to give the Grizzlies a 108-107 home victory over the Nuggets on Nov. 8.
2. Denver swingman Will Barton (ankle) sat out against the Lakers and is questionable for Wednesday.
3. Memphis SF Chandler Parsons is 10-of-39 shooting over his past six contests.