2023 Playoffs Preview: Round 1 - MEM @ OKC

[Skip Bayless (Bball26 Analyst)]

#4 Oklahoma City Thunder (23-6) vs. #5 Memphis Grizzlies (21-8)

The 4/5 matchup in the West this year had a lot of potential coming into the last week of the season. However, the Thunder and GM Loren Colpo decided to sell a few pieces, specifically Gafford, Harrison Barnes, and Jerami Grant, making things much less interesting as it may seem on the surface. The Grizzlies have done the opposite, pushing in almost all their chips to try and win a championship this year. Let's break it down.

The Grizzlies have had a big year and things really changed about a month ago when Robert Williams, Bruce Brown, and Koloko were traded for Van Vleet and Jonas Valanciunas. Since then, the Grizzlies have moved multiple picks to try and build the best team possible for this year. They likely have the deepest team in the playoffs, but there are no 40 FPG scorers on this team. In fact, Porzingis leads the team with 35 FPG which is a far cry from some of the other top players in the playoffs. With a favorable schedule in round 1, that's a problem for another week as the Grizzlies should win comfortably this week. The key this week for Memphis is to stay healthy.

The Thunder also looked like they were going in before Devin Booker's injury, but called off the dogs last week once it was clear Booker wouldn't return for round 1 of the playoffs. There are still guys who can play on this team, notably Embiid and Kuzma, but if Embiid misses any games it'll extinguish the slim chance the Thunder had for an upset this round. The Thunder should be much stronger this year, but we'll see if they can at least give the Grizzlies a scare this week.

Grizzlies X-factor: Avoid major injury to one of the few 30 FPG players
Thunder X-factor: Joel Embiid plays all 4 games this week and dominates

Caleb's pick: Grizzlies
Tyler's pick: Grizzlies
Sarge's pick: Grizzlies
Skip's pick: Grizzlies

[Skip Bayless (Bball26 Analyst)]

Oklahoma City Thunder get blown out by the Memphis Grizzlies 1113-640.5

Not much of a contest in this one as the Grizzlies easily dispatched OKC with the highest score of the first round of 1113 points. Joel Embiid (185 points) did his part as the highest scorer in this contest, but Kuzma (59 points) and Aaron Gordon (59.5 points) couldn't get anything going for the Thunder. Memphis had 4 players score more than 100 points for the week, led by Fred VanVleet (169.5 points), Porzingis (144 points), and Larry Nance (122.5 points).

The Grizzlies march into round 2 for a date with the #1 Portland Trailblazers

Player of the Game: Kristaps Porzingis - 144 points, 48 FPPG

Caleb's pick: Grizzlies
Tyler's pick: Grizzlies
Sarge's pick: Grizzlies
Skip's pick: Grizzlies