NBA Betting – Memphis Grizzlies at Oklahoma City Thunder
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:40 am ESTPublished:
Memphis Grizzlies at Oklahoma City Thunder (-6.5, 198 o/u)
The Oklahoma City Thunder (27-25) will look for their fifth win in six games when they host the Memphis Grizzlies (39-13) tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena (8:00 p.m. Eastern).
The Thunder have posted a 4-1 record so far in the month of February, beating the Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers, and most recently, the Denver Nuggets; their only loss was a rematch against the Pelicans.
The run has OKC above .500 and just two games back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Unsurprisingly, it’s been the strong play of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook that have the Thunder surging. Against the Nuggets on Monday, reigning NBA MVP Durant went off for 40 points.
“My teammates were looking for me. I just tried to finish,” said Durant. “I shot some bad shots, but luckily they went in. My teammates kept feeding me. They gave me energy. I looked to the bench, the guys were up cheering for me. That pushed me over the top a little bit.”
The 40-point game was the 43rd for Durant in his relatively young career. Since entering the NBA in 2007-08, no one has reached 40 points more than KD.
Durant might need another big performance on Wednesday as the Thunder meet the best defense in the NBA. The Memphis Grizzlies are allowing just 95.7 points per game and have won nine of their last ten outings.
Last night, the Grizz downed Brooklyn 95-86. The team jumped out to a massive 17-point lead at the end of one, and rode a balanced offense – with six players in double-figures – to an easy win. Forward Zach Randolph led the way with 19 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
The Thunder are currently 6.5-point favorites for tonight and the game total is at 198. Oklahoma City has covered the spread in three of the last four games in the series, although the last was an 85-74 victory by the Grizzlies in Memphis. The last two meetings between the Thunder and Grizzlies have also stayed under the game total.
Memphis played last night and will be the more tired team. However, it’s not often that the 39-13 Grizzlies will get 6.5 points this year. Expect the Grizz to keep it closer than that.
(Photo credit:Â Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA (Kevin Durant) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
