SAS @ MEM
Time: 9:30 PM ET
Spread: SAS -3
M/L: SAS -150; MEM +130
Total: 183
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The San Antonio Spurs are 15-4 on the season and will travel to face the 11-8 Memphis Grizzlies in the second game of an ESPN double header Thursday night. NBA oddsmakers favor the Spurs by 3-points with the over/under set rather low between these defensively-minded clubs, at 183.
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The Spurs have been dominant on the defensive end of the court. Limiting Marc Gasol still may not be easy, and the Spurs have not been good on the offensive end where it has averaged just 93.9 points over its last eight games.
San Antonio hit just 41 percent from the floor on Wed night but still clubbed the Bucks 95-70. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 boards and the Spurs are 10-0 at home now. Kawhi Leonard was held largely in check with just 13 points on 3 of 12 shooting, while LaMarcus Aldridge had similar struggles with just six points on 3 of 10 shooting. Aldridge has seen his numbers fall off across the board, but that was expected when the All-Star left Portland to join a contending team.
The Spurs have an 88.8 defensive scoring average that is by far the NBA’s best. The Bucks shot just 33 percent from the floor, and Duncan is not going to let his mates slide on that end. “It’s coming around, we continue to improve defensively,” he said. Duncan, Aldridge and Leonard represent the league’s toughest frontcourt, and all three talents are still capable of taking over games on both ends of the court.
Given that it has started with the defensive effort, perhaps the 15-4 Spurs are tougher than anyone is really realizing yet. This is still a team with Manu Ginobili and David West coming off the bench, and a team coached by one of the NBA’s all-time greats in Gregg Popovich. The machine is well-oiled and for all the noise the 20-0 Warriors have made, the Spurs have gone a little less noticed.
The Spurs won 92-82 over Memphis on Nov 21 while holding the Grizzlies to 43 percent shooting. Even Gasol had just eight points on 3 of 9 shooting and the Grizz have lost 11 of the past 13 between these clubs, including having been swept in the 2013 Western Conference Finals. Gasol is coming off a career high 38 points and 13 rebounds which saw him knock down all 16 FTs he attempted.
Point guard Mike Conley had 11 points after averaging 20 over the previous eight games, and he has scored 27.8 points per game while hitting 10 of 16 from three-point range in the last four games against the Spurs. Conley is tough as nails and hobbled through the 2015 postseason at likely less than 50 percent while still playing great ball. He is the leader of this Grizzlies team, which has been on the precipice for several seasons but has never managed to creep into the NBA Finals.
It is a team built for defense, toughness and postseason success, but it lacks a top end defining talent. Could that still be Conley? Gasol? Even the declining Zach Randolph? Randolph still leads the team in rebounding and is averaging 14.6 points per game. Perhaps the team does not need an elite star, but it sure helps to have a clutch player when games are on the line. The Spurs have four.
The Grizzlies have won five of its last six home games and the defense has been huge again. Memphis is allowing just 95.6 points per game in its last seven contests. Gasol said “We cannot keep trading baskets, because we’re just not good at it.” The Grizzlies ended a five-game losing streak to the Spurs on Dec 30 when it won 95-87 at the Fedex Forum.
