Memphis is tailing off into All-Star weekend with one last game against the Clippers. As one of the hottest teams in the league, this will no doubt be a solid game. With the Clippers looking even stronger after adding Ben Simmons, they might be a genuine threat in the West.
Johnny Davis Out
Cam Spencer Out
Marvin Bagley III Out
Ben Simmons Out
Drew Eubanks Out
The Clippers have been the steady team. They’re full of solid veteran talent that just knows how to win. They’re not unstoppable, though, losing three of their last five games. They’ve been up and down all year. Sitting at 29-23, they’re in the middle of the Western Conference standings.
On the other side, the Grizzlies have been climbing all month. They’ve elevated past the Rockets to claim the second spot in the West. Making some changes during the trade deadline, this team bizarrely didn’t get better. They ended up moving off of LaRavia and Smart to save cash. It's an odd move for a team with a shot at a long post-season run.
The Grizz are still excellent, though. Even with Ja Morant not nearly at this peak of play, Jaren Jackson Jr has stepped up and taken over. He’s having one of his best two-way seasons ever, with his scoring abilities taking a massive leap this year.
Memphis currently has a challenging collection of young talent. The team has found solid contributors all over the place. Even Jaylen Wells, their second-round rookie, has claimed a starting spot this season.
However, this is the exact type of team the Clippers can challenge. With a slow pace and a grind-it-out mano-a-mano style of offense, they can feast on inexperience. The backcourt of James Harden and Norm Powell has particularly been a tough cookie to crack. They’ve both been excellent this year and could give the Memphis backcourt trouble.
Of course, the Memphis frontcourt should be able to handle things offensively against Zubac, but this is still a scary matchup. The Memphis still feels like the better team coming into this game, though. I’d go with Memphis tonight primarily based on that front-court matchup.
Money line: MEM (+160) / LAC (-192)
Total Points: 237.5
Spread: +4.5 MEM (-108) / -4.5 LAC (-112)
Memphis has been on a roll lately. Even though they didn’t improve through the trade deadline, they didn’t get much worse either. The starting lineup is still strong. If they can control the pace tonight, they shouldn’t have a problem taking over this game. Controlling pace has been one of the best parts about this Clippers team, but Memphis still has the tools to win.
These teams can score, but the Clippers' defense and slower pace should keep the scoring low. The Clippers have only gone over 237.5 three times in their last ten games. Expect this one to move closer to their pace and have fewer possessions overall.
I'm going all Memphis today. With 4.5 points, you do get a bit of cushion for what will likely be a close game. This might be the best line to take out of all of them if you’re looking for more security!
With how Jackson has been scoring, 23 is a low bar. Even going against some strong defenders in Kawhi and Jones Jr, he’ll still be able to get it done. In their last matchup against the Clippers, Jackson even had 24, so he’s done it before.
Zubac has quietly become one of the best rebounders in the league. He’s averaging nearly 13 a game. With a reasonably poor rebounding frontcourt on Memphis, Zubac could clean up on the boards. Especially if the Grizzlies can push the pace up a bit, he’ll likely hit 14+ boards easily tonight.
Even though Harden has been an absolute beast at moving the ball this year, I could see him come in a little short tonight. In the last game against the Grizzlies, he only managed to get to 9 assists. He played 36 minutes in that game, too, so if his minutes fall a little bit, he might struggle to hit that number tonight.
Bane has always been a solid shooter. This year has been no different, but with his volume sinking to about 5.6 threes a game compared to 8.6 last year, he hasn’t been hitting as many. Tonight could be the expectation, though. He hit three in the last meeting of these teams, and if he’s able to get about 7 threes off, the odds he hits at least three aren’t too bad!