Wizards seek first victory of season, visit Grizzlies

The Washington Wizards have had two days to digest various things that went wrong in their season opener in Atlanta. The Memphis Grizzlies have significantly less time to absorb some of their mistakes in New York.

The teams meet Sunday night in Memphis looking to rebound from disappointing results.

Washington opened its season under new coach Scott Brooks with a 114-99 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday. In the last 48 hours, Brooks likely pointed out some of the things that didn't go well when the Wizards allowed the Hawks to turn a one-point game into a double-digit margin.

Among those things Brooks might have touched upon in practice and film sessions were the lack of rebounding, especially from those not named Marcin Gortat. Gortat had 11 rebounds while dealing with Dwight Howard but the Wizards were outrebounded 52-40, continuing the trend of last season when the team averaged 44.1 boards, a figure that was among the worst in the league.

"We have to be able to rebound as a team," Brooks told reporters following Saturday's practice. "I want everybody boxing out, putting body on body, enjoying that physical contact that the game brings. Don't shy away from it."

Another thing Brooks might have pointed out was focus. During the stretch which cost Washington the win, its defense gave up a 24-6 run to start the fourth quarter while the offense committed six turnovers and shot 3 for 11.

"We lost our focus," Gortat said. "We were in the game for three quarters. Unfortunately, in the fourth quarter they made a run and made some shots. We didn't answer back. We didn't stop them defensively."

Besides the lack of rebounding and focus down the stretch, John Wall had a tough game Thursday. In his first meaningful action since surgeries on both knees, he had 12 points and 10 assists but missed his first eight shots and was 3 for 15 overall in 30 minutes.

"He didn't shoot the ball well, but I thought he competed," Brooks told reporters. "He had some turnovers we're going to be able to correct with better spacing. I thought for what he's been through the last four or five months, I thought his conditioning was pretty good."

While Washington might seem better rested, the Grizzlies look for a better start after its late night flight following a 111-104 loss to the New York Knicks. The Grizzlies gave up a 32-point first quarter, trailed by 18 in the first half before getting within two during the fourth.

"We've got to get off to faster starts," Memphis forward Zach Randolph said. "But we fought back. We're better than what we showed."

Better than what they showed Saturday is defensively and although the Grizzlies won their season opener, they gave up 98 points to Minnesota on Wednesday and trailed 20-3 in the opening minutes.

"Right now early on we've lost our way a couple of times where we're a bit too offensive minded and not focused on the defensive end and trying to win games offensively," Memphis coach David Fizdale said. "We have to really dig in and get back to understanding who we are first, which is a defensive team."

Marc Gasol scored 20 points Saturday in 31 minutes but could see limited minutes Sunday. Mike Conley had 11 in 23 minutes as Fizdale tried to rest him in the first half.

Both players will see minutes restrictions during back-to-back sets since Conley rehabbed from an Achilles injury and Gasol recovered from foot surgery.

Last season, the teams met twice in a span of nine days.

On Dec. 14, Memphis beat the Wizards for the 16th time in 20 home meetings when Gasol had 24 and 12 rebounds in a 112-95 victory. On Dec. 23, Wall had 14 points and 14 assists in Washington's 100-91 victory.