NBA: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Toronto Raptors Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Memphis Grizzlies travel to Toronto without their top star, Ja Morant, to meet the Raptors. It seems that the super-talented guard has to miss a couple of weeks due to his knee injury. At the moment, the Grizzlies are at .500, with solid chances to reach the playoffs. We’ll see how Taylor Jenkins adjusts his team to this circumstance. Meanwhile, the Raptors have a negative record, but the top contender for the Rookie of the Year award, Scottie Barnes, plays very good basketball. Nobody expected to see Nick Nurse’s unit collecting nine wins in 21 games, which only tell that the Raptors are progressing faster than planned.

Preview

Memphis Grizzlies (10-10, +155) is an underdog without Morant, which is pretty reasonable once you take a look at his stats this year. The sky-flying guard recorded 24.1 points each night with 6.8 assists and 5.6 boards, generating a 25.36 PER rating, the eighth-highest in the NBA.

Memphis did win the last game, against the Kings, 128-101, but the price was pretty heavy. We are more than sure that any of the Grizzlies’ fans would gladly trade this success for Morant’s health.

Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane have to step up now, with these two guys taking the biggest share of action behind Morant. In the current situation, their respective 18.6 and 15.6 points have to be much higher. Also, Jaren Jackson Jr. needs to step up. The versatile forward scored only 15 points per match this year with 5.7 boards and two blocks. He was projected to become an All-Star one day, but somewhere along the road, his development slowed down.

Toronto Raptors (9-12, -188) have four straight losses at home, which is kind of frustrating. Instead of collecting wins at home, it turns out that the former champs don’t have that edge when playing in front of their own fans.

Though, we need to add that Nurse’s side only recently got back from an exhausting road trip. They had six consecutive matches away from home, eight in the past nine, and during that streak, the Raptors face Utah, 76ers, Celtics, Golden State, etc.

The most recent clash was against the Celtics, only this time in Canada. Boston posted a 109-97 win, mostly due to the poor contribution off the bench. In this particular event, the non-starters scored 12 points, and so far this year, the Raptors have the worst efficiency in that aspect of the game.

Head to Head Games

The two sides played a few days ago when the Raptors were on a road trip. The Canadian team defeated Memphis, 126-113, with Gary Trent Jr. dropping 26, Fred VanVleet had 23, while Barnes, Siakam, and Achiuwa all had 17. Morant ended the night with 23, Bane and Brooks both scored 20 each for the Grizzlies.

Prediction

This one should be an easy task for the Raptors, one of few this year. The guests are still in shock for losing Morant, and we don’t believe that they can adjust to playing without the best player and the top star in such a short period of time. Our pick would be the hosts, and we would even go with them, covering a -4.5-point spread.

Pick: Raptors -4.5 -110

Here is the preview for the game between the Knicks and the Nets.