Cleveland is hot winning 27 of its last 33. The Cavaliers are comfortably in second place in the Eastern Conference with little chance of moving up or down.




The Cavs very well may be the best team in the East. But they should not be road chalk against Memphis.




The Grizzlies also are playing well winning five of their last six, including the past three winning all five of these games by 11 or more points. The Grizzlies have the second-best record in the much stronger Western Conference, which is a surprise to some. The Grizzlies have a chip on their shoulder and want to prove themselves versus elite competition, which is what they face here. It's also a revenge spot for Memphis, which lost 105-91 on the road to the Cavaliers on Dec. 21 when it was missing Zach Randolph and had not traded for Jeff Green yet.




Memphis has a strong home-court. The Grizzlies have won 27 of their 34 home games, while Cleveland is three games above .500 on the road - and that's playing in the much weaker Eastern Conference.




The Grizzlies present match up problems for every team with their No. 2 ranked defense and physical front line. Cleveland gives up 45.4 points in the paint on the road, which ranks fourth from the bottom. No team scores more points inside than Memphis thanks to Randolph and Marc Gasol. Randolph is a double-double machine and is likely to be guarded by Kevin Love, a weak defender.




The Cavaliers have been taking far more 3-pointers since acquiring gunner J.R. Smith. The Grizzlies hold foes to less than 33 percent shooting from 3-point range at FedEx Forum. That figure would rank No. 2 in the league if it included all of Memphis' games.