Philadelphia 76ers vs Memphis Grizzlies betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA game on TNT. The NBA resumes following a 7-day absence with a spectacular clash in Philadelphia where the 76ers host the Memphis Grizzlies. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers enter the 2nd half of the regular season in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference, and while that is a pretty solid position to be in, they have a solid chance to leap over the Milwaukee Bucks who could be without Giannis Antetokounmpo for a longer period of time. That means they’ll have to take these upcoming games seriously, as there’s 2.5 games between them and the Bucks.
They went into the break with a 4-game win streak and after they lost the first meeting vs Memphis back in the beginning of December on the road, now it’s time to get revenge. Joel Embiid played 28 minutes in the All Star game, it’ll be interesting to see how his foot responds after the decreased workload over the past 7 days or so. He had 35 in the first meeting of the season and Philly’s hopes lie in his hands in tonight’s game.
Memphis Grizzlies
When healthy the Grizzlies are a force in the Western Conference, but they haven’t been with a full team for quite some time now. Losing Steven Adams to a knee injury was a big blow as they went on one of their worst streaks of the season, but they are slowly turning things around with 3 wins in their last 4 games.
Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. both return from All Star weekend, neither player played a significant role in that game so they should be healthy and fresh as the season continues. The big story for Memphis here is their 7 game road losing streak which they hope to end. Philadelphia might be a good opponent for them to do so, they’ve beaten the Sixers in 4 of the last 5 meetings, plus against Eastern Conference opponents they are 14-3 SU in their last 17 games. Adams remains out with his injury, the Grizz also lost Luke Kennard who is out with a illness.
This game will be all about which team shakes off the rust first. The 76ers have experience on their side here and Joel Embiid who will prove to be the difference once again. I have Philly covering at home where they are 23-8 SU this season.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Memphis Grizzlies Predictions & Odds
Although the two teams have gone over the total in 7 of the last 10 meetings, we’ve seen only 218.2 points per game during that stretch and with the first meeting of the season producing 226 points I have a feeling we could be in for another slow paced game here. Memphis has gone under in 10 of their last 13 games, they have the 2nd best defensive efficiency numbers in the league which is a huge contributor to that stat.
Philadelphia isn’t far behind in 6th, allowing just 109.3 points per 100 possessions. Having such a long break in between games should be beneficial to both teams from a health standpoint, but they might struggle offensively having not played in a while. The total has gone under in 4 of 5 Philadelphia games played on a Thursday. I’ll be backing the under in this one.
