Grizzlies vs Celtics Odds and Picks

• The Grizzlies face the Celtics on Thursday evening
• Memphis is on a two-game winning streak
• Read on for the odds, analysis, and prediction

Two of the hottest teams in the Association will battle it out on Thursday night at the TD Garden as the Memphis Grizzlies visit the Boston Celtics. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST. This is also the first meeting of the campaign between the Grizz and C’s.

Memphis cruised to a second consecutive victory on Monday night as Ja Morant continued his tear, erupting for a franchise-best 52 points against the San Antonio Spurs. Boston meanwhile, bounced back with a comeback win vs. Atlanta, but Jaylen Brown did exit early with an ankle injury. It’s not expected to be serious, but he will be unavailable for this contest.

Grizzlies vs Celtics Odds

Odds as of March 2nd at FanDuel

The Grizzlies are a 2.5-point favorite here and they’ve thrived on the road this season, posting an impressive 22-10 record. The squad is also 23-9 ATS away from FedExForum.

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Morant Leading the Way for Memphis

It’s safe to say no one expected the Grizzlies to be this good already, but because of Ja Morant and a terrific supporting cast, Memphis is a legitimate contender and has a real chance of finishing as the No. 2 seed in the West at 43-20. Taylor Jenkins’ squad has gone 8-2 in their last 10 and their most recent win was simply because of a historic night from the franchise superstar.

.@KendrickPerkins is all in on the HYPE surrounding Ja Morant 😤

"We are actually looking at, probably in my eyes, the face of the NBA." pic.twitter.com/24DH3Qg6oc

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 3, 2022

Morant absolutely erupted against San Antonio, pouring in 52 points. Just a few nights before, Ja scored 46 as well. In this contest, the former Rookie of the Year truly did it all. From putting 7 foot 1 Jakob Poeltl on a poster to draining a mid-air buzzer-beater from a full-court pass courtesy of Steven Adams, Morant couldn’t be stopped. He’s now dropped 40+ points in three of his last four outings and will be poised to do so again on Thursday.

As for the rest of the rotation, it was actually a relatively quiet game. Only two others finished in double-digits and both of those players were off the bench. Obviously, Morant isn’t going to play like this every night therefore the likes of Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson need to step up against a very fundamentally sound Boston defense.

Celtics Coming In to Their Own

After a rather poor start to the season, Boston has really turned it around. They’re up to seventh in the East and 10 games over .500. The C’s have only lost twice in their last 14 games, which included a dominant eight-game unbeaten run last month where they were playing lockdown defense and moving the ball at a very efficient level.

Tuesday’s victory wasn’t easy, but Ime Udoka’s group took advantage of an ailing Hawks team. Atlanta cruised into the half with a 17-point lead, but the Celtics stormed back in the third with a 14-0 run to get back into it. Even more impressive, they played the final three quarters without Brown because of the ankle injury. Jayson Tatum balled out for 33 points to lead the charge, while trade deadline acquisition Derrick White and Robert Williams both had 18 apiece.

Jayson Tatum dropped 33 points to lift the @celtics to the victory at home! #BleedGreen@jaytatum0: 33 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST pic.twitter.com/I7PTo9jnka

— NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2022

It was a rather poor shooting performance for Boston, draining just 31% of their triples. However, the squad really played gritty basketball inside, outscoring Atlanta 46-38 in the paint and notching 20 second-chance points. With Brown sidelined on Thursday, expect White to have a much heavier load of minutes.

Grizzlies vs Celtics Prediction

I expect this to be a pretty competitive matchup, but I have to back the Grizzlies. With the Celtics missing their second-best player in Brown, Memphis should be able to get it done here and cover the spread while extending their win streak to three games.

Pick: Grizzlies -2.5 (-110)