Last night Memphis came up short in Portland, and to recap the game we are going to use a 3-2-1 format. Three observations, two questions, and one prediction. Some of the writers here at The BBall Index utilize this configuration to recap games, and they’re all wonderful. More specifically, if you haven’t checked any of Tom Piccolo’s 3-2-1 Knicks recaps, you’re really missing out.

It feels weird to say the 31st game of the season had major playoff implications, but any Western conference matchup not involving the Suns really does have major impact. Only four games separate the Wolves in 14th and the Lakers in 4th. Think about that. There is only a four game difference between being the 2nd worst team in the conference by record, and having home court advantage in the first round.

Observations

1. Put Conley in The All-Star Game Now

Mike Conley has never made an All-Star game. Mike Conley has also never received a technical foul. Both are ridiculous, but for different reasons.

We need to fix this. Conley is 13th in RPM, 18th in PIPM, 7th in ORPM, and 15th in O-PIPM. He is 5th among point guards in RPM, but of course the problem is 7 of the top 9 point guards hail from the West, and this doesn’t even include Russell Westbrook. For what it’s worth, his 4.48 RPM would rank 1st among all shooting guards.

Conley is doing everything he can, including hitting four consecutive threes spanning the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third last night. He even took a corner three at the beginning of the third after a whistle and hit that too.

He is posting the highest usage rate of his career while maintaining his career norms in shooting efficiency, and is achieving his second best assist rate.

Conley is 1st in season long DPOE, and 1st in per game average with a minimum of two games played.

#OneTimeForOneOne

2. JJJ is Ridiculous, Volume 39448563

Here is your latest installment of “JJJ did this outrageous thing last night.”

Jaren Jackson Jr., everybody. pic.twitter.com/sTHKO43UCu

— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) December 20, 2018

Straw Poll:

Who are you taking to build around, all things considered (age/injuries/contract), JJJ or Porzingis?

Do @ Me.

3. Kyle Anderson

Kyle Anderson is doing his typical silent impact for Memphis. Anderson ranks 4th in DRPM and 8th in D-PIPM, among small forwards. In six of the eleven categories we grade, Anderson is posting a mark higher than his career average.

He does things you don’t really notice that impact games. Even his flashy stuffy isn’t flashy, but it is nonetheless cool.

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Questions

1. How Injured is Marc Gasol?

We know Gasol is injured. J.B. Bickerstaff admits it. He even said the medical staff tries to do a good job of managing Gasol’s days off, but Gasol refuses to sit.

“If Marc has to drag his leg up the court, and he still thinks he can help the team, then he’s going to drag his leg up the court to help the team.”

In Gasol’s last 10 games, he has posted a GameScore in the single digits 6 times. One of those scores is even negative. During the first 21 games of the season, Gasol posted a single digit GameScore only twice.

During this stretch Gasol has shot 36 percent from the field, and 27 percent from three. It may even be getting into his head, as he turned down three wide open pick n’ pop three-point attempts last night.

Prior to this slump, Gasol was shooting 41.6 percent from distance on 96 attempts this year. That had Gasol at 36.9 percent over his last 684 three-point attempts dating back to the beginning of the 2016-17 season, and trending upward. Gasol has become a true stretch-5.

The obvious follow up question is how does the organization handle this? Will they force him to sit until he is fully healthy? Does Memphis believe they can afford to have him miss X amount of games and stay in the playoff race in an absurdly crowded Western conference? Is gutting it out until the All-Star break, and then healing over the break, viable/realistic?

2. Rotations Rotations Rotations

Austin Rivers has signed on. Bickerstaff already had to adjust what he was doing based on bringing in Joakim Noah. Dillon Brooks will one day rejoin the rotation as well.

Memphis has a lot of bodies at overlapping positions. Rivers, Brooks, MarShon Brooks, Garrett Temple, and Wayne Selden are all two-guards. Gasol and Noah dominate center minutes, but at some point does Bickerstaff increase Jaren Jackson’s time at the five to gauge where he fits best long-term? So far Jackson has spent 65 percent of his minutes at the 4. Does J.B. look to level that out to 50/50 perhaps?

Prediction

Memphis Limps Into 2019 at .500

Last night’s loss dropped Memphis to 16-15. They have five games left in 2018: at Kings, at Lakers, vs Cavs, vs Celtics, at Rockets. Of the five they pick up wins against the Kings and Cavs, and drop the rest.