Timberwolves at Grizzlies First Half Game Thread

Wolves at Grizzlies
7:00 pm CDT
FS North

Regular season Wolves basketball is back! The Wolves open the season tonight on the road against Western Conference foe the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are a strong, physical team that always gives the Wolves fits. As John discussed in his preview, the Wolves are likely to have trouble with the post up game of Zach Randolph (likely guarded by a significantly smaller Thad Young) and Marc Gasol is a tough matchup for Nikola Pekovic.

The Grizzlies look like a playoff team that could cause some trouble in the Western Conference. They bring most of their roster back yet again, have added some quality role guys like Courtney Lee (last season) and Vince Carter (summer signing), which could make them even better in coach Dave Joerger's second season at the helm.

For the Wolves, we've outlined the big questions many times already: can Ricky Rubio make a leap and take control of the team? What will the rookies look like? Which 2nd year guys will take a step forward? Will they be able to shoot the ball from the perimeter with any consistency at all?

Tonight's inactives are Ronny Turiaf (slight hip problem so they say) and Glenn Robinson III.

Expected starting lineups

Grizzlies

Mike Conley
Courtney Lee
Tony Allen
Zach Randolph
Marc Gasol

Wolves

Ricky Rubio
Kevin Martin
Corey Brewer
Thad Young
Nikola Pekovic

This is it. Once more into the breach. Or something.

Enjoy the tilt. Chat about it here.