If the Memphis Grizzlies want to avoid falling into the NBA’s postseason play-in tournament — for those teams finishing seventh through 10th in the Western Conference — the instructions are clear cut.
Close the season with three consecutive wins.
The Grizzlies (47-32) play visiting Minnesota (46-33) Thursday night, and both teams will be in similar positions. If the Grizzlies can win out, they will finish no worse than fifth.
As the final few days of the season play out, there is a logjam of teams in the Western Conference jockeying for a top-six finish. Only two games separate the third-place Los Angeles Lakers (48-31) from the eighth-place Timberwolves.
“We’re in a tough, tough battle with some other teams,” said Memphis interim coach Tuomas Iisalo. “And I couldn’t ask for more from (our) guys. They are doing everything they can, and we will keep working one day at a time to secure the best possible seeding for the postseason.”
Memphis will start the regular-season ending three-game stretch with momentum. The Grizzlies have won three straight road games, including a 124-100 victory Tuesday at Charlotte.
“It’s very hard to say if we are peaking or not,” Iisalo said. “I think we are playing very solid basketball at the moment.”
Memphis dealt the Hornets their fourth straight loss, but suffered a loss of its own. Rookie forward Jaylen Wells sustained a broken right wrist late in the first half when he was undercut on a dunk attempt by KJ Simpson. It’s a significant blow. Wells had started 74 games and averaged 10.4 points while often drawing the assignment of guarding the opposition’s top scorer.
The Grizzlies may call upon another rookie starter, 7-4 big man Zach Edey, to cushion the blow. Edey has had a strong late-season surge. After a franchise rookie record 21-rebound effort at Detroit Saturday, he followed with 17 points and 19 rebounds against Charlotte.
“I just feel like I’m in a rhythm,” Edey said. “Rebounding is kind of like scoring; you can get in a rhythm on the glass. I’m feeling contact, feeling the ball and reading the ball off the rim. It’s all rhythm.”
Edey played a team-high 31 minutes against Charlotte.
“He’s really putting a great stretch of games together and it actually looks sustainable because the things he’s doing are not really tied to luck,” Iisalo said. “He is playing with great confidence. He is playing with great poise and physicality. And he’s doing a lot of other things that are not showing up on the box score.”
Minnesota will attempt to regroup following a disheartening loss to Milwaukee. The Timberwolves built a 24-point lead with 10 minutes to play but were unable to hold on. The Bucks rallied behind a 40-13 fourth quarter in a 110-103 win.
The Timberwolves had won five straight entering their game against Milwaukee, and despite the loss, they can still finish as high as third in the conference race.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch called the loss a “tough one.”
“We’ve got to shake it off,” he said. “I have every confidence we’ll be able to fight back. We didn’t expect to go undefeated over our last 10 games. We have to get the ones that are there to be gotten.”
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards had 25 points but was just 10 of 27 from the field against Milwaukee.
With the standings bunched tightly, Edwards knew it was a major missed opportunity for his club.
“We’re good, I mean it’s apart of the game,” Edwards said of the loss. “Of course we didn’t want to lose but (we) can’t be in bad spirits because we know we need to win the next game.”
Memphis won both of this season’s previous two meetings. The Grizzlies recorded a 127-125 road win on Jan. 11 and a 108-106 home triumph on Jan. 20.
–Field Level Media
