The Memphis Grizzlies (4-9, 12th in Western Conference) pay a visit to the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-5, 4th in Eastern Conference) Saturday at Rocket Arena (5 ET, NBA TV). Here are three key storylines to know for tonight’s game.
- Bench battle: The Grizzlies have been one of the best bench units throughout the league during the early portion of the 2025-26 campaign. Memphis’ second unit ranks first in scoring with 49.9 ppg, first in rebounding (22.5), and second in assists (12.8). Rookie Cedric Coward, selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, has been phenomenal thus far. He’s the Grizzlies’ third leading scorer, pouring in 14.3 ppg to go along with 5.9 rpg, 3.1 apg and 0.9 spg in 26.9 minutes, reaching double figures scoring in 11 of 13 appearances. Santi Aldama is off to another solid start, posting 12.7 ppg, 2.5 apg, 1.1 spg and 6.5 reb in 25.6 minutes. Cleveland, which gets a majority of its production from a star-studded first unit, currently ranks 29th in bench scoring at 31.3 ppg.
- Memphis trying to find rhythm: Over the first 13 contests in 2024-25, the Grizzlies were 7-6. Following a 3-2 start to this season, they’ve lost three in a row and seven of their last eight, dropping them to 4-9 overall. Since their 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Halloween, Memphis ranks 27th in offensive rating (107.6), 21st in defensive rating (118.7) and 26th in net rating (-11.1). Five of those seven losses have come by at least 13 points, and they’ve dropped the last three outings by a combined 63 points. Memphis is hoping a potential return of Ja Morant (ankle) and the season debut for Zach Edey, who’s missed every game this year while recovering from offseason ankle surgery, can get them back in the win column.
- Cavs’ offense a work in progress: After finishing with the best offensive rating (121.0) in the league a season ago, Cleveland has struggled to find consistency at that end in ‘25-26 while missing some key players. Darius Garland (toe), who is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s home tilt, has been severely missed. In Garland’s two full games this year, the Cavs’ offense was humming, as they posted a superb offensive rating of 133.3 and a net rating of 19.9 (both wins). That’s far and away better than their overall OFFRTG (117.8, 8th) and NETRTG (3.9, 10th). Cleveland will look to take advantage of a Memphis team they’ve beaten five consecutive times dating back to the 2022-23 campaign, especially if their two-time All-Star point guard suits up on Saturday.
