Memphis guard Desmond Bane (knee) is listed as questionable to play today vs Portland

Desmond Bane hasn’t played the last two games for his team, and the Grizzlies sure need him. Even though Memphis won last time out against the Indiana Pacers, they are coming out of a tough spell, having lost five out of their last six matches. So, they need their roster complete as soon as possible! 

The Grizzlies guard was listed as questionable to play Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, which is an upgrade considering he did not appear at all in the squad’s game report the last two times out. Bane is still suffering from knee soreness and Head Coach Taylor Jenkins must really consider if he is to play him considering he might be putting the athlete in danger as the team has three more games this week.

The thing is, starting today this February 1st Memphis are entering a back-to-back set, as tomorrow will follow a clash against the Cleveland Cavaliers. These consecutive matches can be tricky when dealing with an injured player as valuable as Bane is to his squad.

During his absence, Ziaire Williams has been starting in his place, but has not offered much as the 21-year-old has only scored seven points and won 2 rebounds in both of his last two games. If we compare this to Bane, there is a great ditch in quality considering the shooting guard’s averaging 21.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season.

If Bane sits during tonight’s game, another possibility is that of point guard  Tyus Jones who is a regular rotation player having played all 50 of Memphis’ games this campaign. Although he isn’t always as consistent, last time out he dropped 10 points in his team’s victory against the Pacers, also adding 4 assists and 4 steals to his stats. Jones would most likely be the main benefactor off the bench while the normal starters get a boost in usage.

Hopefully for the Grizzlies they will have Bane back either today or tomorrow against Cleveland, since last time he clashed with the Cavs he had one of his best performances of the season, scoring 25 points, four rebounds and four assists in Memphis’ one point victory (115-114).

Check out Desmond’s highlights of his last time out against the Cavs on January 18th:

Bane is almost unmatched with his shooting skills this season

The Memphis sniper is defintely one of the Top 10 best shooters of this campaign. His 21.6 point per game average are a product of his 45.8% field goals, 42.3% three-pointers and 89.3% efficiency from the free-throw line, during his 28 matches this regular season.

Which NBA players have limitless range according to SQ data? 🎯

Grizzlies' sniper Desmond Bane leads the way followed by Kings' rookie Keegan Murray and Pacers' guard Tyrese Haliburton 💯 pic.twitter.com/94apx7FCzf

— ShotQuality (@Shot_Quality) January 24, 2023

Most of our favorite sport betting sites consider Memphis to possess the 10th best odds (+1000) to win the NBA title this year. According to JazzSports, the Grizzlies are favorites to win tonight’s clash at a -5 1/2, with a moneyline -210 juice, whereas the Portland Trail Blazers are the underdogs at a +5 1/2, with a moneyline +180 juice. The over/under for this NBA encounter is 238 1/2.

As Memphis still stand 2nd in the West with a 32-18 record, the Trail Blazers are 12th in the same conference holding a 24-26 track. The game begins at 6:00pm CST at the FedEx Forum.