Two Mother's
Day matchups for us to watch between the Clippers and the Grizzlies early and
the Pacers versus the Heat to follow.
Clippers at Grizzlies
It's a game
7 matchup and the winner advances while the loser goes on vacation. Memphis is trying to make a rare come from
behind sweep, only eight teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit, and are now
looking to win for the third straight game against an LA team that seems to be
lacking the ability to finish. Unlike
last season, when the Grizzlies lost in the seventh game of the Western
Conference semifinals to the Oklahoma City Thunder, this seventh game will be
on their home court.
The
Grizzlies went on a 17-4 run in the 4th quarter of their 90-88 road
victory over the Clippers to ensure there would be a Game 7. The key to the Grizzlies success is their
scoring in the paint. Friday night Gasol
led his team with 23 points while teammate Zach Randolph banged the boards with
16 rebounds. Memphis dropped the first
game of the series at home by one point when they bowed 99-98 as 5 point
favorites. However, in their next two
games at home the Grizzlies won 105-98 and then 92-80.
Chris Paul
and Blake Griffin, the two Clipper superstars, are nursing injuries and that
must be factored into the equation when evaluating this crucial final
game. Memphis can dictate the pace of
this game if they continue to drive to the hoop and limit the Clippers
perimeter shooting.
Pacers at Heat
Before the
series commences, David Stern will hand the Most Valuable Player trophy to
Lebron James and the Miami Heat crowd will undoubtedly express their approval
with wild cheering and chants of "MVP." But will they be cheering when the final
buzzer sounds?
The Pacers
dropped their first three games to Miami this season but doused the Heat in
their last matchup with a 105-90 victory on March 26th as 3.5 point
underdogs. The Pacers got better as the
season progressed. Since April 1st
the Heat has gone 16-4 including playoff games, trailing only San Antonio's
18-2 mark during that time period.
Indiana's front line of Danny Granger, David West and Roy Hibbert will
be the biggest obstacles for the Heat to contend with. This is a very big lineup that plays physical
in the paint and bangs the glass with impunity.
While Miami is a razzle dazzle show time heart stopper, the Pacers are
more of lunch pail crew that gets the job done.
The Pacers swept the Magic in the first round while the Miami defeated
the Knicks in five games.
NBA Parlay
The
Grizzlies are my play (and just about everyone elses) in the early game as the Clippers are the walking wounded
and Memphis is playing with more confidence and will no doubt be bolstered by a
frenzied home crowd. I expect Memphis to
have the lead at the half and win this game going away. If LA is to have any chance Blake Griffin
will have to do it all by himself as I believe the Grizzlies can contain Paul
from the perimeter.
The Pacers
present a difficult matchup for the Heat and though I highly doubt the Pacers
will win this opening game in Miami, I do believe the oddsmakers are being too
generous in this one. If Dwayne Wade is
not hitting his outside shot and the perimeter shooting goes cold, this could
be a nail biter down the stretch.
Indiana is a big physical team who has already expressed their concern
that their adversaries will flop their way on to the charity stripe all game
long.
My NBA Parlay therefore is Grizzlies
-7 and the Pacers +8 ½