Marc Gasol and Brook Lopez

After a tough loss Friday night, the Brooklyn Nets (33-23) will again be at home tonight to face one of the best in the west, the Memphis Grizzlies (36-18). Despite that loss, Brooklyn has been playing well recently and have had a recent 4-game winning streak. Memphis has been even better, winning 6 in a row, although 5 of those wins have come against lottery-bound teams. The Grizzlies beat Orlando at home on Friday.

These two teams met earlier in the season with the Grizzlies blowing out the Nets in Memphis. It was one of the Nets’ worst losses of the season and that game was never close. However, the Grizzlies have made some moves since then. A couple weeks before the trade deadline, they sent Rudy Gay to Toronto for Tayshaun Prince and Ed Davis. Although this moves was mostly made to clear salary cap space, the Grizzlies are 7-3 since the trade and are playing just as well as they had played before.

This game is important for the Nets for a couple of reasons. First of all, if Brooklyn wins and the Knicks lose to Philadelphia tonight, the teams will be in a virtual tie for first place. Also, this will be the last game in a long home stretch of schedule. After tonight, the Nets will only play 4 of their next 17 games at home. By the end of that stretch, we will already be into April. The Nets need this win to take momentum on the road with them.

Injuries: The Nets all of a sudden have lots of problems in their backcourt. Deron Williams is continuing to battle ankle injuries and may struggle against a quick point guard in Mike Conley. Although Joe Johnson is a game-time decision officially, he is not expected to play tonight. His heel is bothering him and is still day-to-day. All the Grizzlies are healthy.

Key Matchups: 

Deron Williams vs. Mike Conley. Advantage: Williams

Conley has become one of the better point guards in the western conference this season and he is the type of guard the Nets typically struggle against: small and quick. He is averaging almost 14 points and 6 assists this season. Deron Williams passed very well on Friday against Houston, but Memphis has a much better defense than Houston so we will see if he can keep it up tonight.

C.J. Watson vs. Tony Allen. Advantage: Allen

Tony Allen has never been a great offensive player, but he is still one of the best defensive players in the league. With Joe Johnson out, Allen will likely guard Deron Williams, which could cause turnover problems for the Nets. Watson has played well recently when he has been inserted into the starting lineup.

Gerald Wallace vs. Tayshaun Prince. Advantage: Wallace

Tayshaun Prince was the main piece acquired by Memphis in the Rudy Gay trade. Since arriving in Memphis, he is averaging just 9 points and 3 rebounds per game, but is still one of the better defenders in the league. There will not be much offense between these players tonight.

Reggie Evans vs. Zach Randolph. Advantage: Randolph

This should be a fun matchup because both these players love to rebound. Randolph was an all-star this season and is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds per game. This is not a terrible matchup for Reggie Evans, who will be able to fight with Randolph for rebounds. Even though Mirza Teletovic is coming off of one of his best games, the Nets will not be able to play him late in this game if both Randolph and Gasol are in because he will not be able to box out Randolph at all.

Brook Lopez vs. Marc Gasol. Advantage: Lopez

The first time these teams met, Gasol dominated Brook Lopez and that was one reason the Nets lost that game. Brook will have another chance for revenge tonight. He is coming off of a good game on Friday against Houston, but Memphis is a much better defensive team so he may struggle at times.

Prediction: Grizzlies 93, Nets 82. 

The loss of Joe Johnson will really hurt the Nets’ offense tonight and it may cost them the game. If Tony Allen switches over onto Deron Williams, the Grizzlies will be able to force lots of turnovers and make this game pretty ugly. Turnovers will be the key tonight. If the Nets can prevent them from happening, they will have a chance to win this game.

Rudy Gay

The first major trade in this trade season has been the 3-team trade between Memphis, Toronto, and Detroit. The trade sent Rudy Gay to Toronto, Jose Calderon to Detroit, and Ed Davis, Austin Daye, and Tayshaun Prince to Memphis. Let’s look at the different ways this trade effects the teams involved, as well as the Brooklyn Nets.

Rudy Gay goes to Toronto. 

This trade adds athleticism and excitement to Toronto, but not necessarily wins. The reason the Raptors made this trade was because the team has not made the playoffs since the Chris Bosh era (and I wouldn’t even call that an era) and the team has struggled to bring free agents to Canada. One way to get a semi-superstar player is by getting an overpaid one via trade, and that is exactly what they did. Rudy Gay is guaranteed for this season and the one after that, but he has a player option to leave after the 2014 season if he is not happy in Toronto.

Even though the Raptors don’t really have a need for Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowry is their point guard of the future, Calderon is still a huge loss. Calderon played better than Lowry for most of the year and is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He has an extremely high basketball IQ and rarely makes mistakes or turnovers. He reads plays very well and knows how to get his teammates involved. Unfortunately for Toronto, the Raptors won’t realize how much of a luxury Calderon is until he leaves. Additionally, although Ed Davis is not a superstar, he had been playing very well this year and could have been a double-double guy in the future.

So how does this effect the Nets? It probably won’t, at least not this year. Even if Gay can somehow bring the Raptors to the playoffs, they will still not be able to catch Brooklyn. Next year, if the Raptors can stay healthy with the roster they have now, that could be a 45-win team and be a competitive team every night, which is not something they have been in the past. Potentially, every Atlantic Division team will have hopes of winning the division next season. The Nets and Knicks have both been good this year, the Celtics could be good again if Rondo returns healthy, the Sixers could be good if Bynum returns and plays well, and with this trade, the Raptors are hoping to be competitive, too.

Jose Calderon to Detroit. 

This has the potential to be one of the best trades of this trade season for the Pistons. Although this team is still 5 1/2 games out of the 8th spot in the east, that spot is up for grabs and Calderon adds veteran leadership to a team that was lacking it. Calderon, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond could potentially develop some great chemistry, while Calderon tutors Detroit’s point guard of the future, Brandon Knight. Detroit still has a slim chance of making the playoffs, but at least they should be more watchable for the rest of the season.

The Nets have 3 more games left with Detroit this year, including one game next week. With this acquisition, expect the Pistons to be able to win at least one of those games.

Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, and Ed Davis to Memphis. 

Memphis made this trade to dump salary, which they accomplished. And on top of that, I really don’t think they lost too much. Tayshaun Prince has been a quality NBA player for years and is still playing at a pretty high level. He is still good enough to start for Memphis. Additionally, Ed Davis is a really nice pickup. The Grizzlies also recently traded away Marreese Speights, who had been a good big for them off the bench. Davis will step right into that role. Although he won’t be starting as he had been in Toronto, he should still be able to get enough playing time to be happy.

Memphis will really only feel the effects of this trade in close playoff games when they need somebody to step up and create their own shot with the game on the line. Rudy Gay had the ability to do that, much like Joe Johnson does on the Nets, and now Memphis is lacking a go-to player. This is still one of the best teams in the NBA, and luckily for Brooklyn, they are in the western conference and will only have one more game against the Nets this season.