Memphis Grizzlies vs Portland Trail Blazers betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA game at FedEx Forum. Memphis leads the regular season series 1-0 against the Portland Trail Blazers as the two teams collide for the 2nd time this regular season. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Memphis Grizzlies
The 5-game losing streak is finally over as the Grizzlies beat the shorthanded Indiana Pacers at home 112-100 on Monday. Ja Morant had himself a game with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists, while Jaren Jackson Jr. added 28 and 8 rebounds in the win. Things got a little chippy yet again in a Memphis game, but cooler heads prevailed this time and the Grizzlies proceeded to sweep the season series vs Indiana.
They’re 5.5 point favorites vs the Blazers tonight, which seems reasonable considering they’ve won the first meeting of the season by 5 points at Moda Center. Memphis is on an 8-game win streak at FedEx Forum, Desmond Bane might return to the line-up following a minor knee injury.
Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard has been on a mission lately, scoring 42, 60, 44, 40 and 50 points in 5 of his last 10 games. Sadly for him it hasn’t resulted in many wins as the Blazers are just 7-13 SU over their last 20 games. Rumors are already circulating about possible trades, with Jerami Grant’s name coming up as a potential target for a few teams. It’ll be an interesting 10 days or so until the deadline, but until then the Blazers have to start winning as they’ve slipped to 12th in the standings now.
The good news is they are only 2 games away from the 5th seed as crazy as it sounds, so the season isn’t lost just yet. They’ve been solid against the spread in games vs Memphis covering 5 times in the last 6 meetings. They could get Jusuf Nurkic and Josh Hart back in the line-up as they recover from calf and hamstring injuries.
Although they’ve not been as convincing as we’re used to seeing them be, the Grizzlies are a much tougher team at home than on the road where all those 5 defeats happened. They are just way more talented than the Blazers are at every position, I can definitely see them winning by at least 6 points here.
Memphis Grizzlies vs Portland Trail Blazers Predictions & Odds
Portland’s biggest problem lately has been defending, their last 4 of 5 opponents have scored over 120 points against them and although they’ve won 3 of those games that’s still an alarming number. Tonight they are playing the fastest paced offense in the NBA, the Grizzlies average 104.4 possessions per game this season. With Nurkic possibly missing this game, that would leave the paint wide open for Ja Morant and co. to exploit.
The MVP candidate is coming off a triple-double in his last game, he will be fired up to get one over Damian Lillard who has been on a tear lately. Dame is averaging 34.5 points per game in the month of January, don’t be surprised if he too goes off in this one. The first meeting produced just 217 points, I’m expecting a lot more in tonight’s game as the last 10 meetings have averaged 234.5 points per game. Take the over with confidence.
