San Antonio Spurs look to recover quickly after last night's shocking performance against the Lakers. Will the Spurs cover as the 6 point favorites over the Memphis Grizzliestonight, or will Zach randolph and Co. hand them another loss?
The Spurs were beaten 84-98 last night at home but are still
liked by the NBA odds makers to get the win against Memphis. San Antonio is favored by
5.5 points and have gone 18-6-3 ATS in their last 27 games as chalk in the NBA
betting lines. The matchup's total is set at 196.5.
It really was a night to forget for the Spurs though as Los
Angeles absolutely demolished them on the boards. Amazingly, Andrew Bynum had
the same number of rebounds (30) as did the entire San Antonio team.
Complete off night for Spurs
The one benefit of such a loss was the Spurs were able to
rest some guys once again. DeJuan Blair played just 13 minutes, while Tony
Parker, Tim Duncan and Danny Green each played around 25. Green was practically
the only player that was hitting his shots, finishing with a team-high 22
points on 7-of-11 shooting, including five made threes.
San Antonio must try and move on quickly as they now face a
scorching hot Memphis team.
The Grizzlies have won four in a row and seven of eight
after beating Phoenix 104-93 last night and covering as 5.5-point favorites, cashing as one of SBR's NBA picks. It
was Memphis' fourth consecutive ATS cover.
Rudy Gay went off for the Grizzlies, posting 32 points on
13-of-20 shooting and adding seven rebounds and two steals. Meanwhile, O.J.
Mayo, Zach Randolph and Dante Cunningham all scored at least 10 points off the
bench.
I correctly picked the Grizzlies to cover last night but am
going against them now. That's not an easy thing to do considering how damn
good Memphis has been here of late.
San Antonio has won all three meetings this season, two of
which were by double digits. They spanked Memphis 95-82 in the sole home
matchup, and oh by the way the line was exactly the same (-5.5) as it is for
tonight.
You may be thinking the Grizzlies will be dying to put one
past San Antonio, but the hots won't be short of motivation either.
Desire high on both ends
The Spurs were just embarrassed on their own floor by a
conference rival and I just don't see any way they lose this game. They're a
terrific 19-8-1 ATS at home this season, while Memphis is just 13-16 ATS on the
road.
Some may also be scared away from San Antonio because they
deem Gregg Popovich's club “too old”, but none of his five starters played more
than 27 minutes yesterday. Tired legs shouldn't be an issue at all in this one.
I have no doubt the Grizzlies will be the popular public
play here, but I believe the Spurs come out guns a blazing tonight and that
they'll do enough to win by six or more.
FREE Pick: San Antonio Spurs -5.5
TREND BREAKDOWN
Grizzlies are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall
Spurs are 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 home games
Spurs are 24-9-3 ATS in their last 36 games overall
UNDER is 9-1 in Memphis' last 10 games overall
OVER is 8-3 in San Antonio's last 11 home games
Grizzlies are 10-3-1 ATS in the last 14 head-to-head
meetings
Be sure to check out our NBA Betting Parlay