Even the biggest pessimists are probably surprised at seeing what’s become of the Memphis Grizzlies (6-12) and New Orleans Pelicans (3-15) in the early season. Teams usually sacrifice the coach to try to turn things around, but it’s been so bad for the latter that they are 1-5 after clipping Willie Green, and promoting James Borrego to interim. 

The Grizzlies are getting a tune-up on the schedule, at least on paper, in Wednesday’s Emirates Cup game in New Orleans. They’ll have to guard fewer 3-point threats, but the Pelicans should be desperate to avoid snatching the spot of miserable laughing stock away from the Dallas Mavericks.

The Grizzlies need to win to avoid falling out of Play-In Tournament territory. The Pelicans need it just as badly, so executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars doesn’t lose his sanity after bungling two transactions since his hiring in April that will likely hinder their future. 

This will kick off their four-game road trip that extends to Los Angeles (Clippers), Sacramento and San Antonio. Here’s what you need to know:

Locking up the boards 

NOLA is in the bottom third of the NBA in rebounding percentage, but they can get scrappy and punish opponents with second-chance points (16.3). They must be prevented from taking second or third opportunities, especially because lots of 3-pointers are conceded when giving up offensive rebounds, since the defense often moves inside on the initial attempt and is no longer in position outside for a contest following a sharp pass.

Staying away from cheap fouls against Williamson and making him work on defense 

Guarding Williamson is a challenge because he burst into the lane like the boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Despite posting a career-low in accuracy at 0-3 feet (57.8), it’s still his favorite area as 56 percent of his attempts come there. He’s also second in the league in free-throw attempts (11), so the Grizzlies must avoid unnecessary reaching and will have to be prompt when collapsing on the paint.

On the other side, Williamson is a lazy defender, and putting him in screen rolls should result in some baskets. Jaren Jackson Jr. should be going at him to take advantage of his height disadvantage to try to put him in foul trouble. 

Good off-ball defense on Trey Murphy III

Playing off-ball defense is much harder than it sounds because the goal is seeing the ball and man. Bad things happen when a defender loses sight of one of them, and guarding Murphy is one of the tougher assignments because he logs a 63.0 effective field goal percentage on all catch and shoot attempts (5.1). The defender on him will not be able to help to overload the lane.

Expose NOLA’s 3-point defense 

If you measure bad coverage by how many wide-open 3-pointers are given up per game, then the Pelicans (24.2) are at the bottom, only ahead of the Utah Jazz, and opponents convert 39.1 percent on those attempts. This is an opportunity for Cedric Coward and Jaylen Wells to have a good night shooting in target practice.

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