The Memphis Grizzlies have won eight in a row and are keeping pace with the streaking Nuggets for the top spot in the west at 28-13, just a half game behind Denver. On Wednesday they beat San Antonio for the second straight time on the back of Ja Morant’s 38-point night. The young, star point guard won’t get to face another young point guard; Tyrese Haliburton is still out with injury for Indiana, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be head-to-head with a young star in the backcourt.
Benedict Mathurin fit in nicely in the Indiana starting lineup Friday night in its two point loss to Atlanta, with 26 points. Mathurin went toe-to-toe with Trae Young, but can he match Morant tonight? Let’s check on the odds for this one.
Grizzlies vs. Pacers odds, spread and total
Grizzlies vs. Pacers prediction and pick
This feels like a tough spot, bordering on a schedule loss for the Pacers. The second night of a back-to-back against Memphis who hasn’t played since Wednesday is as tough as it gets right now. Luckily for the Pacers, they didn’t have to travel anywhere after the narrow loss to the Hawks, but will still have tired legs. Not only is Haliburton out, but Myles Turner was out last night and is likely to be out for this one as well.
Indiana had some pep in their step after losing their best player to injury, but the second game without your best guy is a lot different from the first. In the first, players are excited to step into new roles and play for their injured teammate, but against one of the best teams in the league, coming off a loss they’ll start to miss their leader. The Grizzlies are top ten in offensive and defensive rating, they’re a great team on a big winning streak, but Indiana is great at home, they’re 6-1 against the spread in their last seven home games. Instead of betting the Grizzlies to cover a big spread on the road, I’ll lean on another trend.
The over is 5-0 in Memphis’s last five games and the over is 5-1 in Indiana’s last six against a team with a winning record. So the over will be my play tonight and I expect another big game from Mathurin.
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