A tough loss for the Hornets last night, and it doesn’t get any easier as they roll into Memphis today to take on a Grizzlies team that has won a franchise-record 11 straight home games. Game tips at 7 Central.

We saw the Grizzlies in New Orleans just ten days ago, when Chris Paul dropped 21, 13 and 6 and James Posey spun around rookie DeMarre Carroll for the last gasp game winner. Unfortunately, Posey will miss this game with that strained Achilles and Paul is questionable after suffering a nasty knee bruise last night against the Bulls.

The Grizzlies are 25-20 on the season, and are themselves just getting into town after a 97-104 loss last night to the Tony Parker-less Spurs in San Antonio. O.J. Mayo led Memphis with an efficient 28 points in that one and new All-Star Zach Randolph chipped in with 19 points and 13 rebounds, but the Grizz were undone by the Spurs’ reserves.

Numbers:

Pace: Memphis 96.1 (9th), Hornets 94.4 (20th)
Offensive Efficiency: Memphis 106.5 (10th), Hornets 104.7 (15th)
Defensive Efficiency: Memphis 107.4 (25th), Hornets 105.5 (19th)

The Gizzlies currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Hornets are tenth, just a half game behind them in the standings. A big game tonight for these division rivals.

Linkage:

• Earlier on the blog: Trading Questions on the Grizzlies
• Rival bloggers: 3 Shades of Blue (THN)

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today’s banner featuring Lee Nailon, the 6-9 forward who played two stints with the Hornets, most recently during that woeful 2004-05 campaign when he averaged a career-high 14.2ppg. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz’s designs in our Wallpapers vault.)