The New Orleans Pelicans (27-37) travel to take on the Memphis Grizzlies (44-22) in the early game this Tuesday evening. The Pelicans snapped their four-game winning streak with a tough overtime loss against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. The Grizzlies had an ugly loss to the 15-win Rockets in Houston on Sunday. Below, we’ll break down the NBA odds so that you can cash out!
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Tuesday, March 8, 2022 – 07:30 PM EST at FedExForum
The Grizzlies (43-23 ATS) are a 5.5-point favorite over the Pelicans (32-31-1 ATS) at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks. Memphis covers the spread at the highest rate (65.2%) in the league this season, but Sunday was only the team’s third outright loss as a favorite of at least five points. Can Ja Morant and company bounce back or will the Pelicans inch closer to making the play-in tournament?
Season Series: Tied 1-1
These teams will meet in Memphis again in a month, but for now, the series is tied 1-1. Memphis lost 112-101 back in November in wire-to-wire fashion thanks to a lousy first quarter, which was won 37-22 by New Orleans. The Grizzlies were only 6-7 at the time and not playing well to start the season.
When these teams met on February 15, Memphis flipped the script and won the first quarter 37-27 and won the game 121-109. Memphis led for 45 minutes, which was impressive since Morant was inactive for that game while New Orleans had its usual lineup. Tyus Jones led Memphis in scoring with 27 points – his only game with more than 18 points this season.
CJ McCollum’s 30 points were not enough for the Pelicans, who shot an abysmal 4-of-26 from three. The four makes are a season-low and the 15.4% hit rate was the second-worst game of the season for the team. New Orleans will shoot better from three this time, but the addition of Morant should be significant. Especially since he is coming off a bad game.
Recent Play: Pelicans Dominant, Grizzlies Middling
Who has been the best team in the NBA since the All-Star break? The Pelicans have a statistical argument for it. In that time, New Orleans is 4-1, ranked No. 3 in Offensive Rating, No. 1 in Defensive Rating, and No. 1 in Net Rating (plus-19.3).
The Pelicans won by 15 points in Phoenix, albeit the Suns were without Chris Paul. But New Orleans also pounded the Lakers by 28 points in LeBron James’ building, beat the Kings by 30, embarrassed Utah’s offense in a 34-point win, and nearly had a 21-point comeback in Denver before losing in overtime.
The Pelicans are playing well on both ends of the court. Since being traded from Portland, McCollum has been quietly great for his new team. In 10 games with New Orleans, McCollum is averaging 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and shooting 51.8% from the field. In Portland this year, his numbers were 20.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 43.6% from the field, so the change of scenery has been good for him and fellow guard Brandon Ingram.
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As for Memphis, the Grizzlies have been up and down with a 3-3 record out of the break. Their last four games were all decided by more than 10 points, but they came out on the losing end as a 10.5-point favorite against Houston on Sunday.
The Grizzlies led 62-52 at halftime before being outscored 71-50 in the second half. Morant finished with 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting and had five turnovers. Memphis is 4-7 this season when Morant fails to shoot better than 40% from the field, but he has not done so in consecutive games since late November.
Morant has recently bounced back from bad games. He shot 7-of-25 in a loss to Minnesota before scoring 46 points in Chicago the next game. That led to a career-high 52 points against the Spurs last week. But Morant will have to start the game strong in what could be a high-scoring contest as the Pelicans have hit 117 points in six straight games. Memphis is ranked No. 8 in Defensive Rating for the season.
Prediction
Memphis is 20-12 ATS at home this year, the second-best record in the league. After a loss, Memphis is 14-7 ATS compared to 18-18 for New Orleans. But I like the way New Orleans is playing on both sides of the court right now, and I am going to trust them to cover this spread for your NBA picks this Tuesday.
NBA Pick: Pelicans +5.5 (-110) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
