Memphis at Houston
Time: 8 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: HOU -8
Total: 221.5
Betting odds c/o 5dimes
One of the league’s slowest paces in the Memphis Grizzlies’ attack encounters the league’s fastest in the Houston Rockets. The result is a 221.5 point over/under, which by and large is reflective of how Mike D’Antoni and the Rockets have been able to goad teams into their pace. At home, that is more likely, where the Rockets host Memphis as 8-point favorites according to NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
Houston is 22-8 at home this season and the Grizzlies are 17-15 on the road. Houston has won seven of its past 10 SU, and is coming off a 122-103 pouncing of the L.A. Clippers. The Rockets recently added Sixth Man of the Year candidate Lou Williams to the team that already had another main candidate in Eric Gordon ,and the result has been more flame throwing from a team hardly bereft of shooters: The Rockets have seven rotation players that all shoot 35 percent from three or better, and Houston connects on 36.3 percent as a team while hitting 14.7 a night (on 40.5 attempts).
The all-or-nothing approach has served the Rockets well, with James Harden averaging 28.8 points per game and being supplemented now by two scorers that can reach 20-plus frequently in Williams and Gordon.
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Former Orlando Magic forward Ryan Anderson is averaging 14 points while hitting 2.8 threes a night, and the Rockets have five players connect on 2.5 threes or more a game. The team averages 115.1 points per game while limiting opponents to 108.3, a differential of +6.9, third best in the Western Conference. Teams do not always want to get into Houston’s frenetic pace, but Patrick Beverley has been able to goad them into doing just that on a regular basis. His contributions and his well-poised play
Teams do not always want to get into Houston’s frenetic pace, but Patrick Beverley has been able to goad them into doing just that on a regular basis. His contributions and his well-poised overall play has been largely unnoticed with Harden doing so much in the offense. Beverley is a good shooter and controls the pace of a game, and he is absolutely instrumental in D’Antoni’s system.
Beverley is a good shooter and controls the pace of a game, and he is absolutely instrumental in D’Antoni’s system.
The Grizzlies have lost 3 of its past 5, and are coming off a 104-100 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The Grizzlies are 12 games behind San Antonio in the Southwest Division and trail Houston by seven games in the standings. Part of the reason for the Grizzlies’ standing mediocrity could be the lack of evolution on the part of Chandler Parsons. Parsons has not come around after his series of injuries and scarcely has resembled the talent he once was in Houston.
Parsons has appeared in just 31 games and is averaging 6.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per night. The Grizzlies have been pleased with the progression of JaMychal Green, who has enabled the team to shift Zach Randolph to a Sixth Man Role, where the veteran has thrived. Marc Gasol is still one of the best at his position, and Mike Conley is an underappreciated defensive monster who will play through anything.
But without Parsons panning out to give this team the offense it sometimes lacks, that really caps the upside on the Grizzlies. The result has been that the team is still heavily reliant on an ancient Vince Carter to provide eight points per game in 24 minutes a night. When the rotations tighten up in the postseason, Memphis will not be any better without any real premier options to line up against the likes of Harden, tonight, and what San Antonio and Golden State respectively trot out. The Grit N Grind has been an effective and sustainable model for very good basketball, but it is tough to say that it has been anything more with an aged core and limited upside outside of Green’s emergence at the 4-spot. The Grizzlies will be there because they always are, but what can be expected other than a tough performance by a gritty underdog?
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