NBA - 763 Minnesota Timberwolves @ 764 Memphis Grizzlies
Projected line: Memphis by 7 points
The Grizzlies had in their road win against the Lakers the whole package: defensive intensity, offensive sets, inside-outside game, great effort from the bench, limited 3-point attempts, etc. Just a great effort, with most of the credit going to the bench, who came up huge. Of course we're not going to see Zach Randolph coming off the bench on a nightly basis, but it went beyond just Z-Bo's
double-double. OJ Mayo was fantastic, scoring 16 points in 20 minutes, while Hamed Haddadi went for 10 points and 6 rebounds in 13 minutes! Memphis pretty much focused in doing what they do best, with just 6-13 3pts and a lot of focus in pounding down low, with 21-27 FG at the rim and 4-12 FG from 3-9 feet! The damage was mostly done in transition, offensive rebounds and cuts, the three kind of plays they generally do very well. They were also struggling on their interior defense, but on this game the Lakers only shot 13-23 FG at the rim and 3-12 FG from 3-9 feet! With this great effort in their interior defense, they forced the Lakers to shoot a lot from the perimeter, where they heavily struggle.
On the other side, Minnesota is coming from a blowout win at home against Denver with a great 1st half, where they outscored the Nuggets by 68-43. The way they scored 117 points was quite curious, as the Wolves shot just 15-27 FG at the rim and 3-5 FG from 3-9 feet. The whole damage was done from the outside, where they had a super volume of 11-23 FG from 16-23 feet and 12-35 3pts! Defensively, the Wolves struggled in defending the inside and the transitions, as Denver shot 25-36 FG at the rim with 64 points in the paint and 29 fast break points, with 16-24 FG on transitions! Denver's problem on this game was their poor outside shooting and the turnovers. With this kind of defense and the fact that they're relying too much on their outside shooting, I expect the Wolves to heavily struggle tonight against Memphis.
The Grizzlies will have a good offensive edge against Minnesota's bad transition and interior defense. The Wolves should also struggle in the backcourt, something that the Grizzlies guards should be able to explore quite well. Therefore, I expect a blowout win for Memphis tonight and so I'll take them in here.
NOTE: This play was going to be a Double Dime, but I downgraded it due to Gasol being doubtful for tonight. However, I still like the Grizzlies for tonight, even without him.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 764 Memphis Grizzlies (-4) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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