Portland Trail Blazers @ Memphis Grizzlies
Current Records: Portland 7-10, Memphis 10-7
Trail Blazers fans better hope the squad plays one heck of a game on Monday as the odds are decidedly against them. Their road trip will continue as they head out to face the Memphis Grizzlies at 8:00 p.m. ET at FedExForum. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
The Trail Blazers are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 225.5, but even that wound up being too high. They snuck past the Rockets with a 104-98 win on Saturday.
The Trail Blazers smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds (they’re ranked third in offensive rebounds per game overall). That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 26 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask the Grizzlies). They walked away with a 142-131 victory over the Bulls on Saturday. Memphis’ season wasn’t pretty last year but it’s starting to look like struggles are in the rearview.
The Grizzlies’ win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Scotty Pippen Jr., who dropped a double-double on 30 points and ten assists. The dominant performance also gave Pippen Jr. a new career-high in field goal percentage (81.3%). Another player making a difference was Jaylen Wells, who went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points plus six assists.
Portland’s victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-10. As for Memphis, they are on a roll lately: they’ve won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-7 record this season.
Not only did both teams in this Monday’s game win their last matches, they also took care of their bettors and covered the spread. Looking ahead, the Grizzlies are probably looking forward to this one considering their 10 advantage in the spread. This contest will be Portland’s 11th straight as the underdogs (so far over this stretch they are 6-4 against the spread).
The Trail Blazers were pulverized by the Grizzlies 134-89 in their previous matchup two weeks ago. That matchup was pretty much over by halftime, at which point the Trail Blazers were down 64-44.
Memphis is a big 10-point favorite against Portland, according to the latest NBA odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Grizzlies, as the game opened with the Grizzlies as a 8-point favorite.
The over/under is 230.5 points.
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Portland has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Memphis.
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