NBA Betting: Surging Grizzlies Could Be Legitimate Threat in Western Conference
by Bovada Sportsbook Staff | March 28, 2014
Nobody likes going to the dentist, even if it is important to do. It’s usually an unpleasant and sometimes painful experience.
The Memphis Grizzlies are the dentists of the NBA.
Playing them is usually an unpleasant and sometimes painful experience. No team uses more of a combination of slow offensive play, defensive excellence and a physical frontcourt more than Memphis. That’s why no team wants to play the Grizzlies, and the top contenders in the Western Conference will want to avoid a first-round matchup against them.
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Last season the Grizzlies won a franchise-record 56 games. They rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first round of the playoffs and won four straight against the Los Angeles Clippers. Memphis caught a break in the conference semifinals by facing an Oklahoma City Thunder team without an injured Russell Westbrook, but it was still an impressive five-game series win for Memphis to reach its first-ever conference finals. There the Grizzlies ran out of gas and were swept by San Antonio.
It was easily the best season in franchise history so it would seem the club would have re-signed coach Lionel Hollins. Yet whether it was because Hollins wasn’t on the same page as the front office on some moves or the team didn’t want to meet his price, Memphis let him walk and promoted Hollins’ "defensive coordinator" Dave Joerger to the top job.
It didn’t look like a great decision as recently as January 14 as Memphis entered a game against Oklahoma City at just 17-19. All-Star center and reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol returned for that game after missing 23 straight. That changed everything.
Memphis upset the Thunder that night and is 26-9 overall since then. Gasol has resumed being a defensive stud, and the team also runs its offense through him in the high post as he’s a good passer. The Grizzlies are up to No. 3 in points allowed per game at 93.9. In overall defensive rating (points per 100 possessions), Memphis is No. 1 since Gasol’s return.
It’s defense that generally wins championships – just ask the two-time champion Heat. Memphis has lost just three times in March (8-6 ATS), including an 11-point home win over Eastern Conference-leading Indiana. The Grizz have also had success against the likes of the Thunder, Clippers and Rockets. If there’s one team in the West that gives Memphis problems it is those Spurs, who are 3-0 against the Grizzlies this year.
Entering the weekend Memphis is No. 7 in the Western Conference, which would mean a first-round matchup with Oklahoma City. However, getting as high as No. 5 is possible, which would likely mean facing either the Clippers or Rockets in Round 1, two teams against which the Grizzlies are very confident. Memphis will do everything in its power to avoid a No. 7 or No. 8 seed, and it’s still no lock to make the playoffs at all if the team slumps down the stretch.
Memphis is currently 22/1 at Bovada to win the Western Conference – only Dallas and Phoenix have longer odds – and 50/1 to win the NBA title. The schedule is very tough for the Grizzlies upcoming to climb in the West, though. They visit Portland on Sunday to close out this week, a game that will have Live Betting at Bovada, and still have to play the Spurs and Heat again.
