NBA - 501 Memphis Grizzlies @ 502 San Antonio Spurs
Projected Line: San Antonio by 8 points
I like the Spurs in here to start this series in the best way possible, as they are better prepared to adjust to the style of their opponents today than the opposite. Generally speaking, the Grizzlies' gameplan against Oklahoma City was to hang around with them, playing physically and then unleash Tony Allen on the fourth quarter on defending Kevin Durant, who was already with a lot of minutes played on his legs and with a huge volume of plays going into his hands. Oklahoma City's offense was too stagnant to beat an elite defensive team like Memphis and on the five games of that series, the Thunder never managed to reach the 20 assists mark on a single game! This won't happen today with San Antonio, who had 30 and 27 assists on the last two games of their series against Golden State, a great sign for them today.
Defensively, San Antonio with Tiago Splitter near his best form will be a tough matchup for Memphis. As I've noted on my series preview, the three key areas where the Grizzlies usually outplay their opponents on offense (post up plays, shots at the rim and offensive rebounding) are brilliantly defended by the Spurs, who ended the regular season while being #3 in the league in all these three areas. Memphis will look to score in transition, but the Spurs were great in avoiding turnovers against the Warriors and they won't try to crash the offensive glass, so Memphis will have to generate points on halfcourt, an area where they will struggle. Therefore, I expect a comfortable win for the Spurs today and so, I'll be taking them in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 502 San Antonio Spurs (-4,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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