The Grizzlies are on the road tonight in Phoenix. This will be a battle between two teams in very different places. One team is trying to secure its position at the top of the Western Conference, while the other is trying to pull this season back from disaster. Despite polar opposite positions in the standings, this should be a strong game with high-end talent.
Cam Spencer Out
Johnny Daivs Out
Marvin Bagley III Out
Vasilije Micic Questionable
Grayson Allen Probable
Bradley Beald Out
Cody Martin Out
Let's get things straight here. The odds of this being a close game aren’t great, but there is still a ton of value in this game. The Grizzlies have been playing at an elite level. They’ve crawled back to second in the West, and the Phoenix Suns just struck out at the trade deadline.
These are two teams in very different places, but both still have elite talent on them. Despite the Sun's terrible record over the last few weeks, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker can still be an issue. The Suns made some additions by subtraction and added a couple of rotation players to smooth out the team at the trade deadline. They still lack significant defense, relying almost entirely on rookie Ryan Dunn and Kevin Durant to hand most of the defensive sets. The flaws of this team were just too substantial to overcome at the trade deadline.
It’s hard to believe they’ll be able to knock off the Grizzlies. They’ll have to fight past Triple J, who is having one of his best seasons. With most of the team healthy coming into this matchup, the Grizzlies have the talent edge.
To win this game, the Suns will have to shoot out of their minds from three. With Booker and KD consistently scoring solid numbers, they’ll need a role player to hit. This game could stay close if they can find someone like Tyus Jones or Grayson Allen to break out tonight.
However, don’t expect the Suns to do much tonight. This team has been falling apart at the seams all year. With failed trade agreements and minimal improvement, they might be the odd man out of the playoffs this year. Memphis shouldn’t have too much trouble taking care of business tonight. Especially with some solid money line and spread odds, this could still be a great game to bet still!
Money line: MEM (-175) / PHO (+145)
Total Points: 246
Spread: -4 MEM (-108) / +4 PHO (-112)
This game should be solid for Memphis; they have been playing well lately. This Phoenix team doesn’t have the IT factor. This line is too low at only -175 odds on the money line. Jump on it if you see it.
These teams can score in heaps, but the defense of Memphis feels like it can slow down Phoenix enough. They fell short of this line in the first matchup between these teams. It doesn’t feel like the Suns will have the juice to push this line above the 246 mark.
Again, this doesn’t look like a game Phoenix will have much of a shot to win. They’ve been struggling to find anything positive momentum lately. Losing 4 of their last 5 games hasn’t given them much inspiration, either. Memphis will likely run away with this game.
Tyus has been disappointing for the Suns this year. However, he’s been doing a little better in the scoring department lately. The only issue is if he’ll have enough time on the court to hit this 12-point line. If he gets at least 25 minutes tonight, I am confident he’ll do it.
Durant continues to be the powerhouse of this team. He’s been scoring consistently but also putting tons of work in on defense. I think he’ll have a solid run against Jackson tonight, too. I expect Durant to have a great night across the board.
Aldama might get a little more action following a few trades from Memphis. He’s already been great this year, but with such a low line on these points and rebounding totals, it’s too tempting not to take. He’s been averaging 19 combined rebounds and points in February. So it feels like they haven’t up his line from his January totals, so the over is the solid move tonight. Especially against Phoenix, who doesn’t have much size down low.
Kennard has seen his minutes move around this year, but now that Smart is gone, he’ll likely find a larger role on the team again. With such a low line for points and rebounds, this is a line to jump on. Kennard averaged nearly double this in January, and despite a drop in productivity in February, this still looks like a promising line.