NBA Western Conference Begins Its Play-In

The NBA Western Conference play-in tournament is set to begin.

The Memphis Grizzlies travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs at 7:30 p.m.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors will face off tonight. Tip off for this game is 10 p.m.

Grizzlies vs. Spurs

Memphis has the edge as they won two out of three games against San Antonio.

San Antonio has an overall record of 33-39 with a road record of 19-17. Memphis has an overall record of 38-34 with a road record of 20-16.

Memphis and San Antonio’s offensive and defensive stat records are relatively similar.

On the offensive side, the Spurs average 111.1 points with 43.9 rebounds and 24.4 assists. On the defensive side, they average 110.7 points with 47.6 rebounds 24.6 assists.

On the offensive side, the Grizzlies average 113.3 points with 46.5 rebounds and 26.9 assists. On the defensive side, they average 110.9 points with 43.8 rebounds and 25.5 assists.

Projected Starting Five for Grizzlies:

• Ja Morant
• Dillon Brooks
• Kyle Anderson
• Jaren Jackson Jr
• Jonas Valanciunas

Starting Five for Spurs

• Dejounte Murray
• Devin Vassell
• DeMar DeRozan
• Keldon Johnson
• Jakob Poeltl

Highlighted players:

Grizzlies small forward DeMar DeRozan averaged 21.6 points a game.

Spurs point Guard Ja Morant averaged 19.1 points a game.

Lakers vs. Warriors

Stephen Curry and LeBron James will face off in Los Angeles in Staples center at 10 p.m.

The Lakers and Warriors will compete to seal the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

The Lakers and Warriors played each other three times in the regular season. The Warrior won the first game, but the Lakers then took the next two.

Starting Five for the Lakers:

• LeBron James
• Anthony Davis
• Andre Drummond
• Dennis Schroder
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Having LeBron back will be crucial for the Lakers. Back in March, Lebron suffered an ankle injury that caused him to miss significant time. Since March 20, the day James suffered the injury, the Lakers have gone 14-17. They were 28-13 previously.

Anthony Davis remains a key piece to the Lakers. However, health remains an issue, having missed 30 games due to injury.

Starting Five for the Warriors:

• Stephen Curry
• Draymond Green
• Kevon Looney
• Kelly Oubre Jr,
• Andre Wiggins

Steph Curry put the Warriors on his back this season, being the only player to average over 20 points a game–he is averaging 32.

However, he does have a supporting cast in Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green.