Nearly half of the Memphis Grizzlies roster is questionable for tonight's home game against the Boston Celtics. Seven players are sick with a stomach virus that kept five of them out of the game in Toronto on Wednesday.
Since that game, forward Jarnell Stokes and swingman Quicy Poindexter have joined Tony Allen, Courtney Lee, Jon Leuer, Kosta Koufos, and Beno Udrih on the sick list.
This could give Boston a break, since Memphis showed signs of struggle in the fourth quarter against Toronto, who rallied for the win. Despite the loss, Memphis, at 10-2, still has the best record in the league going into tonight's game.
But even with a diminished roster, Memphis, with their skilled frontcourt, should be a handful for a Boston team, who has struggled with finishing their games so far this season. Only in the win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday have they come from behind to win, but the 76ers are not the team you want to use as a measuring stick.
The biggest problem for Boston seems to be consistency. They make huge runs, sometimes against the other team's starters and sometimes against the bench, and then they give up runs – often in the fourth quarter.
Head coach Brad Stevens has hinted that it might be time to shake up the lineups for Boston, who are 4-6 so far this season. Going up against Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol might increase Tyler Zeller's hard earned playing time in this one.
Either way, the Memphis big men have had the upper hand against Boston in the previous two seasons, giving the Grizzlies four straight head-to-head wins before tonight's game. The game will be played at 8:00 PM EST in Memphis.