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Very impressive Grizzlies

The Memphis team have the best record in the league, and should be even better after they face the Lakers, who are struggling with injuries on top of all their other issues

With each new game it's becoming clearer that the LA Lakers will not make it to the playoff this season either. Currently they're almost bottom table in the Western, with just three victories in their first 14 matches, which would mean they'd need to achieve a 46-25 score in the remainder of the season to match last season's Mavericks score, as they entered playoff in eight place. After Dallas pumped them with 140 points, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets at home on Sunday, 101-94, but only in overtime.

As neither of the teams took off to more than seven points ahead, the final stretch became a thriller. With a minute and 43 seconds left the Lakers held +3 (86-83), but Arron Afflalo and Danilo Gallinari bring the away team back to the start. The purple-yellow team had two chances to win, but Kobe Bryant and Nick Young were not precise enough and overtime had to be played, where Denver were  a bit more focused.


- It seemed to me we were a bit stiff, but we had periods where we played with energy and scored easy transition points. I think we've been playing better lately, not counting the Dallas match- says Kobe Bryant, who ended the match at 27 points (10/24), six rebounds and four assists.


The Lakers are still the worst defenders of the league by far (allowing 111.6 pts/game), but this time it was their offense that failed them. They made just 37.1% of their shots from the field, with a disastrous 3/24 for three points.


- We made just 37% of our shots and scored just 11 points in the last quarter, it's hard to win a match like that. We had our chances in the final moments but we couldn't close the deal- detected Ed Davis, who did not impress in his first match as a starter this season, as he accumulated 6 fouls in 22 minutes.


Davis might start once again tonight as Carlos Boozer missed training on Monday and Tuesday due to a shoulder injury, while Xavier Henry is unfortunately gone for the rest of the season.


To make things worse, arriving to the Staples Center are the Grizzlies, the best team of the league, who've so far lost just two of their 14 matches, and would have probably had a perfect score had they had some more luck. They were very impressive on Sunday, reaching a dominating 107-91 victory against the Clippers, who were demolished by Marc Gasol's 30 points (13/18) and 12 rebounds.


- There was no doubt in my mind that Marc will be aggressive. When you see a 12-2 start in a season you have to tell him to go for 30 points every night- commented Mike Conley, who scored just seven points (2/6) and seven assists.


After scoring 14.6 points in the first six seasons the youngest Gasol, drafted by the very Lakers he will now face, is currently averaging 19.9 points. Prior to this season he scored 30 or more points just once in 436 matches, while this season he managed to achieve that three times, including the last two matches where he had a combined 62 points with 26/40 shooting from the field. The Spanish center leads the Western Conference with 136 post-up possessions and is by far the best in the league when receiving the ball at the "elbow".


- He is a tough guy to guard. We have to find places on the court where he gets the most chances to score. We're doing pretty well right now, but we have to keep passing and moving well, so we can have room for an error or two on defense- says coach Dave Joerger, whose team are about average in the league when it comes to points scored (99.9) but rise to sixth position in efficiency (106.0 points per 100 possessions).


They can also rely on the best defense of the league (92.4 pts/game), and their bench also came alive in their last seven game and scored 38.1 points on average, which is a drastic improvement compared to the 20.4 points they averaged in their first seven matches.


- Offense will come in time. As far as defense is concerned, we've built trust that carries over to the other end of the court- says Gasol.


Two weeks ago the Grizzlies center scored just eight points (3/10), but his team still won 107-102 in a home match against the Lakers for the seventh win in eight games he appeared in. The game was won by the Grizzlies bench scoring 38 points, compared to just 14 by the Lakers' bench, which were missing Nick Young at the time. Kobe Bryant ended that game with 28 points (10/26), seven rebounds, six assists and four steals, but his effort was fruitless in the end.