Zach Randolph To Return Friday Against Pelicans

The Memphis Grizzlies are a mediocre 4-5 over their last nine games, all of which star big man Zach Randolph has missed with a sore right knee. Have their struggles been mostly due to the lefty’s absence? We’ll find out soon enough – Z-Bo will return to the court for tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Randolph left midway through Memphis’ loss to the Chicago Bulls on December 19 and hasn’t played since. The Grizzlies lost the three games immediately following his absence, and have gone 4-2 over their past six contests. But even that more recent success belies the team’s actual level of performance.

Memphis has struggled on both ends of the floor without Randolph, notching offensive and defensive ratings of 101.7 and 106.0, respectively. Both numbers are well more than 4.0 points worse than the pre-Randolph injury marks of Dave Joerger’s team.

Of course, tonight’s matchup won’t give us an accurate indicator of Z-Bo’s impact. He’ll likely be on a minutes restriction, and is tasked with tangling with Anthony Davis on both ends of the floor. Welcome back!

Either way, Randolph’s return looms large for the Grizzlies. They’re suddenly four games back of the Golden State Warriors for the West’s best record after trailing the ‘Dubs by just one game prior to his sidelining.

Let’s see if they can make up ground with their big man in the fold.

What do you think?

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