Grizzlies at Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks hope to overtake Toronto for fourth place in the Eastern Conference so they can have homecourt advantage in their potential first-round playoff series but need to start taking care of business in their home arena. Atlanta is a suspect 19-15 on its own floor as it begins a two-game homestand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday.
The Hawks are 5-7 over their last dozen overall games after falling 107-99 at San Antonio on Monday but still possess a 2 1/2-game lead over sixth-place Indiana. Center Dwight Howard has collected at least 10 rebounds in nine straight games and is 13 away from becoming the first Atlanta player since Hall-of-Famer Dikembe Mutombo (1999-2000) to grab 800 or more in a season. Memphis sits one-half game behind sixth-place Oklahoma City in the West after winning its last two games, including a 98-91 victory at Chicago on Wednesday. "We're getting there," Grizzlies coach David Fizdale told reporters after the win. "I like the way our defense is starting to come back to us, but I'm never going to get comfortable with our group. They haven't been consistent enough to show me that I can let off the gas now."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Memphis, Atlanta)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (38-30): Point guard Mike Conley and All-Star center Marc Gasol each scored 27 points against the Bulls, and their teammates are looking for them to carry things down the stretch. "We're going to go through those guys," shooting guard Tony Allen told reporters after the victory. "They try to make the right play all the time, but we want those guys to be more selfish than anything. When they've got their one-two going, you've just got to fall in line." The Grizzlies drained 11 3-pointers against Chicago to raise their season total to a franchise-record 627, surpassing the 2007-08 squad (620).
ABOUT THE HAWKS (37-30): Point guard Dennis Schroder is looking to score more, and the results back that up as he has finished in double digits in points in a career-best 16 consecutive games. The 23-year-old German has topped 20 points in four of his last five games and is averaging 23.6 in that span. Backup shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. has taken advantage of an increased role since the trade of Kyle Korver to Cleveland by scoring in double digits in 21 of his last 22 games - the lone failure being an eight-point effort against Memphis on Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Hawks posted a 107-90 victory over the Grizzlies on Saturday for their third straight win in the series.
2. Memphis SG Chandler Parsons (knee) missed his second straight game and could be facing season-ending surgery.
3. Atlanta SF Kent Bazemore is averaging 15 points on 11-of-16 shooting over his last two games.