#9 Memphis Grizzlies: 38-34
The Memphis Grizzlies participated in the play-in game in the Western Conference last year against the Portland Trail Blazers, ultimately coming up short of beating them out for the 8-seed in the West, but this year, they have an even better team than they did then.
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Second-year guard Ja Morant has been the driving force of this team all season long, but what makes the Grizzlies a threat to anybody that plays them is that they are a really strong defensive team and they have numerous guys that they can turn to for production on the offensive-end of the court.
Defensively, the Grizzlies rank 6th in the league in net defensive rating and they ranked 11th in the league in opponent’s field goal percentage (46.2%) during the regular season. Offensively, the Grizzlies had 7 different players average double-figure scoring during the regular season and they had two guys in Desmond Bane and De’Anthony Melton finish averaging 9.2 PPG and 9.1 PPG respectively.
With a ton of guys to turn to for production and the ability to play 11, sometimes 12 guys deep into rotations, the Memphis Grizzlies are definitely a sneaky team in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament and they could definitely be an interesting team to look out for as the 8-seed should they win two games.
With Jaren Jackson Jr. back on the court and practically everybody on their roster healthy, the Memphis Grizzlies will be a young team that could cause some headaches for Utah Jazz should they be able to claim the 8-seed by beating the San Antonio Spurs and the loser of the Lakers/Warriors game in.
