Coming off their most decisive loss of the season on Wednesday at Cleveland, the Wizards are thankful to play again quickly and at home, as they face the Memphis Grizzlies tonight at Verizon Center.
Memphis (12-30) might appear to be the perfect foil for Washington (22-18) to erase the memory of its 121-85 loss to the Cavaliers. But the Grizzlies are dangerous. Consider their 124-118 victory over the Wizards on Nov. 24, when they rang up the highest total scored by a Washington opponent this season.
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“They have three-point shooting, athleticism and size. And they like to push it,” said Wizards coach Eddie Jordan. “I like to tell our guys that as much as it is a basketball game, it’s an athletic contest also. We have to be as athletic, and that’s what I felt like we weren’t [Wednesday] night.”
The Grizzlies’ athletes include emerging second-year shooting guard Rudy Gay (19.4 points per game), 7-footers Pau Gasol (19.1 ppg) and Darko Milicic, while point guard Mike Conley Jr., the No. 4 pick in last year’s draft, has shown potential since returning from an injurylate last month.
In the first meeting, however, it was 3-point bomber Juan Carlos Navarro (28 points) who burned the Wizards most. Navarro was a 2002 draft choice by the Wizards who was dealt to Memphis last summer after never playing for Washington.
The best way for the Wizards to combat the Grizzlies will be to resume their defensive excellence. After one of their best defensive efforts of the season, a 102-84 win Monday over Dallas, they followed with one of their worst — Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland.
“[Memphis] likes to get up and down the court, and they have a lot of outside threats,” said Wizards guard Antonio Daniels. “We just need to continue to do what we have been doing, outside of [Wednesday] night.”
Off Night
» Cleveland shot 56.6 percent, the best by a Wizards’ opponent this year, and out-rebounded them, 53-29.
» The Cavs starting frontcourt hit 25 of 34 shots, outscoring their Wizards counterparts, 65-31
