The Grizzlies continue their road trip this afternoon in Boston after another disappointing loss against Western Conference rivals Oklahoma City. Coming into today's game, the Grizzlies have lost 5 of their last 7 games. Meanwhile, Boston has been red-hot as of late, winning 8 of their last 10 games. In spite of this, the Celtics have been something of a disappoint this season due to their aging roster, and rumors have circulated all season that President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge is attempting to blow up the team.

Tonight is also Rajon Rondo's second game back after missing eight games with a sprained wrist. During Friday's game against New York, the normally steady Rondo turn the ball over 5 times. His performance will be key for the Celtics tonight. Memphis' defense forces teams to commit turnovers, and if Rondo can't hold onto the ball, the younger Grizzlies could kill the Celtics on the break.

Also, I probably needn't mention that the Super Bowl is tonight. This could have an interesting effect on the game. The Celtics rely on a strong homecourt advantage in the Garden, but will Boston fans come out to the see the Celtics the same day that their Patriots are playing the Giants? It's entirely possible that the normally full TD Garden is empty tonight.

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The first three quarters of last night's game between the Grizzlies and the Thunder were, well, great. Memphis showed strong effort on both sides of the ball, closing out on Kevin Durant, dominating the paint on offense, etc., etc., etc. But, as is the case with the 2011-12 Grizzlies, they once again fail to close out on title contending teams in the 4th quarter.

Having been outscored 32-17 in the 4th, the Grizzlies gave up a once 10-point lead on their way to losing 101-94. I can't get on the Grizzlies for all that much prior to the start of the 4th, but when you watch them lose all of their offensive prowess in the 4th, when it's needed the most, you can't help but get frustrated. And I say this knowing that Durant hit a deep, pretty well-defended 3-pointer, followed by an amazing top-of-the-key, also highly well-defended, jumper to put the game away. My beef is less with how the Grizzlies defended Durant (at least on those two plays), but how they weren't able to answer on any of the Thunder's offensive outbursts in the 4th. They went from being an inside-outside team to being an ISO, give the ball to Rudy Gay or Tony Allen and watch them create kind of offensive team. Sure, that may work against the Kings or the Pistons, but that won't cut it against a team like the Thunder.

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We might actually be playing our best basketball, with back-to-back wins over the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets. Tonight, though, we face a true challenge against the class of the Western Conference, in the Oklahoma City Thunder. We're starting to play the season in waves and streaks. Hopefully, this will be a part of positive growth, beating a true title contender on the road. This would be a huge win for us. Let's talk it, fans!

After what has seemed like an exhausting week for the Memphis Grizzlies, we should take comfort in knowing they rallied to survive its ugly start with a pair of superb wins, and now, it's finally the weekend. The Grizz will have no time to reflect on much, however, as their three-game road trip continues tonight with a stop in Oklahoma City and on Sunday, with a matinee in Boston.

It's going to be another interesting weekend for Memphis -- especially tonight.

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Boxscore

As Flo Rida succinctly put it, sometimes I get a good feeling about these Grizzlies and this is one of those times. This is one of the few times when I watched the game and don't have anything critical to say about the team, or if I did, it would feel like nitpicking. I know I probably rely on statistics and boxscores too much, but look at this: Rudy Gay (+21), Marc Gasol (+40), Tony Allen (+36), Mike Conley (+21), Dante Cunningham (+17), OJ Mayo (+20). Sure, Marreese Speights (-11) is a bit of a black-eye, but the rest is just ridiculous.

In the game preview, I mentioned how the Hawks were really hurting without the presence of center Al Horford, and I think tonight that was on full display. Without Horford to protect the paint, the Grizzlies essentially ran lay-up drills on the Hawks, going 21-31 at the rim, especially Tony (5-6), Rudy (4-6), and Mike (5-7). Many of those open lay-ups and dunks were the direct result of the Grizzlies' frenzied defense. The Hawks had 14 turnovers for the game, 13 of which were stolen by the Grizzlies. Even Tony threw one down on Josh Smith! This is Memphis basketball at its best: forcing turnovers, getting out in transition, and finishing. In the halfcourt, guys were either driving to the hoop or were cutting and being fed; 9 of Memphis' 22 assists lead to a lay-up or dunk.

I mentioned in the comments section of the preview that coming into the game, the Hawks had the 3rd best defense in the league (built on a largely weak schedule, but impressive nevertheless), whereas the Grizzlies had the 23rd best offense. This kind of performance goes a long way towards relieving my fears. Our defense and rebounding are almost as good as ever, but if our offense can operate at this level, this team should make a strong push for the rest of the season. Both the Trailblazers and the Jazz lost last night, meaning that Memphis is only one game behind the 8th-seed. We have a hellish schedule coming up, but tonight's win will hopefully generate some positive momentum for us to ride into some of these games.

Player of the Game:

I'll let muffin1man handle this one for me:

I just wanted to say Tony Allen should get the game ball tonight. He didn’t force shots and found his offense within the offense. That 3 in the corner to end the half was AMAZING! So proud of Tony and my Grizz tonight! GO GRIZZ!!!

Talk it, after the jump!

Tonight is the game one of the Grizzlies' 3-game road trip against the Hawks. The Grizzlies are coming off a big overtime win against the 2nd-seeded Denver Nuggets. However, the West is, as always, a slugfest, and Memphis is currently 10th and on the outside looking in. That being said, the Grizzlies have been fairly solid considering that we are without the services of Zach Randolph. If we can stay above .500 until he returns, chances are we'll around come playoff time.

The Hawks are in similar, maybe even worse, position, as there isn't a specific timetable for the return of star Al Horford. Fortunately, they play in the weaker Eastern Conference and will probably be able to hold on to the 3rd or 4th seed regardless. Atlanta comes into this game on a 3-game winning streak.

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Time to get back on track! And we mean it this time...