In a battle of the pupil vs the professor, GM Houndy and his Memphis Grizzlies will be taking on GM Proid and his Miami Heat in Miami.  Both teams seem to have something to prove as we get closer to the end of the regular season.

Memphis has had a revolving door of GMs this past year, but Houndy has stepped in and may be the long term solution for the Grizz.  They are only 2.5 games out of the 8th spot in the West, so every game has meaning to Memphis.  Bringing Jeff Green in from Houston has been huge for Houndy, as Evan Fournier has yet to play for the Rockets and Green is averaging almost 2 more PPG.  Memphis has a rough remaining schedule, as his opponents remaining have a .552 win percentage compared with the .477 his schedule had up to this point.  If Memphis wants to make the playoffs this season, they are going to have to pull off some upsets at some point.

Miami seems to have been in the middle of almost every trade the last week of the trade deadline.  The roster looks nothing like it did when the season began.  When the season started, it was Kemba Walker, Bradley Beal, Paul Pierce, Rudy Gay and Enes Kanter.  Only 1 player remains from that initial lineup.  The team he fields today is remarkably different, and in the eyes of many, much more dangerous.  Rajon Rondo, JR Smith, Rudy Gay, Tim Duncan and Marc Gasol will take the court for the Heat tonight, looking for that championship that has seemingly eluded the NLL “Professor” all this time.  They are firmly entrenched as the division leader with Atlanta a full 4 games back.  This game doesn’t have as much importance for Miami as it does for Memphis, but this is a testing ground for Proid to get his team chemistry right before the playoffs.

Let’s take a look at the individual starting matchups:

PG

Dante Exum vs Rajon Rondo

No contest here, the rookie is playing well, but will be up against one of the elite NLL PG in Rondo, who leads the league in steals and is 2nd in assists.  Its quite possible that Rondo will be on trip-dub alert tonight!

Advantage: Heat

SG

Jeff Teague vs JR Smith

Teague is playing lights out for Memphis, but is he better at SG or his more natural PG position?  JR is the original NLL glitch, though he plays exactly like his NBA counterpart, there isn’t a shot he will pass up.  Even though JR is a prolific scorer, Teague brings more to the table than just his scoring so we will call this a draw.

Advantage: Even

SF

Jeff Green vs Rudy Gay

Green is a good scorer and decent rebounder, but his rebounding has dipped in Memphis.  Rudy is a top 10 NLL scorer, averaging 10 more PPG than Green.  In addition, Gay is better in rebounding, steals and assists.  Rudy runs away with this one.

Advantage: Heat

PF

David West vs Tim Duncan

What a great matchup between two timeless players.  West and Duncan are still both double double machines and though West has slightly better overall numbers, it’s the intangibles that really put Duncan slightly ahead in the end.

Advantage: Heat

C

Brook Lopez vs Marc Gasol

Brook is always a solid player, when he isn’t hurt.  He’s having a solid year for Memphis and is part of a frontcourt that tends to outrebound opponents on most nights.  However, this won’t be most nights, as he is going up against Gasol, who is a better scorer and as efficient, if not better, rebounder too.  Gasol is also a better defender.  Normally, Brook is the better center on the court, but not tonight.

Advantage:  Heat