The Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers will face off for the first time this season tonight. The Grizzlies lost to the Utah Jazz in Utah on Monday night 121-105 as -2.5 road favorites and a total of 231.5, while the Trail Blazers played the Rockets last Friday night at home and won 125-111 as -4 point favorites with a total of 222.5.
The early money has come in on the Grizzlies as the line opened as Memphis -2.0 and is now -4.5. The total has dropped from 228.5 to 226.5 which is based on Damian Lillard being out, but also Desmond Bane, Steven Adams and Josh Hart potentially being questionable. Let’s dive into the Grizzlies-Blazers matchup to see who is in for a big game.
There are other players who are listed as game-time decisions on both sides: Ayo Dosunmu, Zach LaVine and Coby White for the Bulls, and T.J. Warren for the Nets. Bettors should head to DraftKings Sportsbook to tail the following Grizzlies-Blazers odds and predictions.
Best Grizzlies-Blazers Odds & Predictions
Ja Morant Off to MVP Start
The Grizzlies are off to a 5-3 start but are just 1-3 on the road. They are sixth in the NBA for offensive rating, but just 30th for defensive rating. The Grizzlies are led by MVP candidate Ja Morant, who is averaging 33.3 points per game. As mentioned above, Bane and Adams who are both listed as game-time decisions. Bane is the Grizzlies’ second-best offensive player and Adams is one of the best interior defensive players in the league.
The Grizzlies are 2-4-1 against the spread and 4-2-1 on the OVER in seven games, with just one day of rest traveling to Portland tonight.
Blazers Dealing Without Damian Lillard
The Blazers have gotten off to a hot start with a 5-1 record, but are now playing their second game without their best player in Lillard. They are eighth in offensive rating and ninth in defensive rating with a net rating of +4.8, which is sixth in the NBA. The Blazers have averaged 115.3 points per game and put up 125 against the Rockets without Lillard. There is an issue with Hart listed as questionable, but I think the Blazers are in good shape with Anfernee Simons and Jusef Nurkic being able to pick them up. Nurkic is going to see a good bump in production tonight with Adams not being 100% and Simons has taken the main scoring role from Lillard.
A big factor in this game is the injuries on the Memphis side, but also the significant rest that the Blazers have as they last played on Saturday.
Final Odds & Pick
This game is similar to the Bulls-Nets matchup yesterday as there are several injuries and we are not 100% percent sure how things will play out. When that is the case, I look towards the knowns. We know about the rest edge the Blazers have and they are at home. We also know there is a chance that Bane and/or Adams will not play or if they do, they will be on shortened minutes and not 100%. The Grizzlies’ defense is also one of the worst in the league. I’m going to look at going OVER on the Blazers’ team total tonight, even though we have seen a line move toward Memphis and the UNDER.
Grizzlies-Blazers Pick: Blazers OVER 111.5 (DraftKings -110)
