VIDEO: West Series Preview: Grizzlies – Blazers

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY — The Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers are two teams that looked like legit contenders at one point or another this season.

The Grizzlies held the second best record in the Western Conference and third best mark in the NBA for most of the year. The Blazers had a top-five defense through March 15 and were one of a few select teams that ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

But both teams suffered injuries late in the season that derailed their quest for the 2 or 3 seed. Portland lost Wesley Matthews for the season to a torn Achilles on March 5. Memphis was without Tony Allen (calf strain) for its last nine games and also dealt with foot and ankle injuries to Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.

Appropriately, these two teams have found each other in the 4-5 matchup. Portland is the 4 seed because it won the Northwest Division, but Memphis will have home-court advantage (Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 at the FedEx Forum) because it finished with a better record.

• Grizzlies-Blazers series hub | Steve Aschburner’s full preview

Here are some statistical notes to get you ready for Grizzlies-Blazers, with links to let you dive in and explore more.

Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

Portland Trail Blazers (51-31)

Pace: 96.5 (13)
OffRtg: 105.5 (8)
DefRtg: 101.4 (10)
NetRtg: +4.2 (5)

Overall: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups
vs. Memphis: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups

Blazers notes:

• Were the league’s best fourth-quarter team, outscoring their opponents by 7.4 points per 100 possessions.
• Led the league with 17 wins after trailing by 10 or more points.
• Had the league’s lowest free throw rate (FTA/FGA) at 0.225. Also had the league’s second lowest opponent free throw rate at 0.240.
• Damian Lillard led the league with 767 possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, according to Synergy.
• For the third straight season, LaMarcus Aldridge led the league in mid-range shots, taking 187 more than any other player.
• Nicolas Batum had an effective field goal percentage of 44.3 percent before the All-Star break and 56.5 percent after the break. Among 164 players who attempted at least 250 shots before the break and 150 after, only Oklahoma City’s Anthony Morrow saw a bigger increase in his effective field goal percentage.

Memphis Grizzlies (55-27)

Pace: 94.2 (26)
OffRtg: 103.1 (13)
DefRtg: 99.9 (4)
NetRtg: +3.1 (11)

Overall: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups
vs. Portland: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups

Grizzlies notes:

• The only team that has ranked in the top 10 in defensive efficiency each of the last five seasons.
• Had an effective field goal percentage of 44.2 percent on shots from outside the paint, the sixth worst mark in the league and the worst mark among playoff teams.
• Allowed 94.9 points per 100 possessions with Tony Allen on the floor and 103.6 with him off the floor. That differential of 8.7 was the biggest in the league among players who played at least 1,000 minutes for any team.
• Marc Gasol led the league with 13.0 elbow touches per game.
• Beno Udrih was one of two players to shoot better than 50 percent on at least 200 mid-range shots.

The matchup

Season series: Grizzlies won 4-0.
Pace: 94.5
POR OffRtg: 98.6 (18th vs. MEM)
MEM OffRtg: 108.8 (4th vs. POR)

Matchup notes:

• The Grizzlies were the only team that won four games against the Blazers and have won nine of the last 10 meetings.
• Only three Blazers – Lillard, Batum and Steve Blake – played in all four meetings.
• The Grizzlies were a plus-75 in 103 minutes with Conley on the floor and a minus-41 in 89 minutes with Conley on the bench.
• Memphis shot 51 percent from 3-point range, its best mark against any Western Conference opponent. It was the only team to shoot 50 percent from 3-point range against the Blazers.
• Batum had a plus-minus of minus-59 against the Grizzlies. He didn’t have a plus-minus worse than minus-17 against any other opponent.

Category: 2015 NBA Playoffs, NBA.com/Stats / Tags: , Beno Udrih, Damian Lillard, John Schuhmann, LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Conley, Nicolas Batum, Portland Trail Blazers, Tony Allen / 4 Comments on Numbers preview: Blazers-Grizzlies /

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