NBA Playoff Betting – (1) Warriors at (5) Grizzlies (Game 4)

Golden State Warriors (-5, 196 o/u) at Memphis Grizzlies

The Golden State Warriors (67-15, 28-13 Away) haven’t looked anything like the team that led the NBA in scoring during the regular season. Down two games to one, Steph Curry and company will try to even their Western Conference semifinal with the Memphis Grizzlies (55-27, 31-10 Home) tonight at the FedEx Forum (9:30 PM Eastern Time).

The Warriors averaged 110.0 points per game during the regular season but have managed just 89.5 over the last two games – both losses. Saturday’s 99-89 setback saw the team go just 6/26 from three-point range for the second game in a row.

As for tonight’s game, the Warriors know that going down 3-1 would all but seal their fate.

“It’s not a must-win, but it’s pretty freaking close,” said guard Klay Thompson.

“They’re learning,” coach Steve Kerr added. “It’s part of the process. You see teams go through this all the time in the playoffs. It’s the only way to figure it out, to go through the pain of losing a game like [Saturday].”

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, got big games from their two big men with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol scoring 22 and 21 apiece. Gasol also pulled down 15 boards in the win, helping the Grizz cover as four-point home dogs.

“This was a huge win for our franchise, a huge win for our team,” Memphis coach Dave Joerger said after the win in Game 3. “The crowd was fantastic.”

In the trends, Memphis is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games at home against Golden State. But I expect the desperate Warriors to come out firing on all cylinders and play like the team that dominated the association for 82 games during the regular season.

Pick: Warriors -5.

(Photo credit: Matthew Addie [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)