{"id":523358,"date":"2026-01-07T21:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/523358\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:14:12","slug":"game-preview-phoenix-looks-to-exploit-a-shorthanded-memphis-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/523358\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Preview: Phoenix looks to exploit a shorthanded Memphis team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Who: Phoenix Suns (21-15) @ Memphis Grizzlies (16-20)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">When: 6:00pm Arizona Time<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Where: FedEx Forum \u2014 Memphis, Tennessee<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Watch: Arizona\u2019s Family 3TV, Arizona\u2019s Family Sports<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The season keeps rolling, and with the trade deadline now a month away, the Suns head to Memphis to see what kind of mood the Grizzlies are in. They are fiesty, so user beware. Just ask the Spurs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poundingtherock.com\/spurs-analysis\/92652\/what-we-learned-from-the-spurs-loss-to-the-grizzlies\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">last night<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This is the same Memphis group that caught Phoenix earlier in the year, but both teams have taken very different roads since then. The Grizzlies sit at 16-20, patching things together through injuries, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and still searching for something that looks like an identity. The offense lives in the bottom third, and the vibes feel fragile.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Phoenix comes in from the opposite emotional direction. A statement win over Oklahoma City, followed by a road loss in Houston that required a Kevin Durant buzzer-beater to finish them off. The energy in the Valley is good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This is one of those nights. The kind you use to keep stacking wins, not overthinking it, and letting the math work in your favor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I am going to be watching Grayson Allen closely. He went 0-of-6 from the field in his return against Houston. The shot never showed up, but the playmaking did, at least early, with 6 assists in the first half. Then it vanished. Zero assists after the break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This is about rhythm. About timing. About getting his legs back underneath him. Every team needs a shooter off the bench who bends the floor the second he checks in. Jordan Goodwin has been carrying that load, and credit to him for it. If Allen finds his groove too, things get dangerous fast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Bench scoring is still an area of opportunity for Phoenix. They are at 18.8 points per game, 20th in the league. There is room to grow, and nights like this are how it starts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Play your game. The Suns have a real structure now, and this is a night to trust it against Memphis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Grizzlies do not generate steals at a high level, sitting 21st in the league in that department. If Phoenix values the ball, stays patient, and runs what they run, the math starts working in their favor. Hold onto it, avoid the careless stuff, and let the game come to you. Good things tend to follow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Suns get the win. Brooks goes for 31 against his old team. And no techs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who: Phoenix Suns (21-15) @ Memphis Grizzlies (16-20) When: 6:00pm Arizona Time Where: FedEx Forum \u2014 Memphis, Tennessee&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,294,293,177,4070,6,30667],"class_list":{"0":"post-523358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-grizzlies","10":"tag-memphis","11":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","12":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-suns-game-previews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115855888502541228","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}