The Memphis Grizzlies will kick off a six-city road trip on Friday night as they head to the great Northwest to take on the Portland Trail Blazers. While the Grizzlies hope to continue a reasonable amount of success away from home, the Trail Blazers will be kicking in in the second game of a five-game home stand in hopes that some good home cooking is just what the doctor ordered as they remain miraculously in the mix for the Western Conference playoffs.
At 10 p.m. ET, tune in regionally to Comcast SportsNet Northwest or FoxSports Southeast for live television coverage of this NBA basketball game on Friday, January 27, 2017, at the Moda Center.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Friday schedule.
Odds Analysis
A loss to Houston on Saturday was the Grizzlies’ fourth loss in their last six games as Memphis has hit a bit of a bump in the road.
Speaking of the road, the Grizzlies have been a rather solid team away from home, posting a .500 mark and that includes wins at Golden State and at Houston this month.
Against the spread, however, Memphis is just 10-12 away from home, but beating the spread regardless of venue has proven to be troublesome of late as they’re 8-11 ATS in their last 19 games.
On the other side of the hardwood, Portland snapped a losing spell with an overtime win over Boston on Saturday, but they’re still just 1-4 SU and ATS in their last five games and are 9-11 ATS overall at home.
Last Meeting
This is a game that pins excellent defense against a good offense and the last time these two teams met, defense won out with the Grizzlies topping Portland 88-86 back at the start of December.
The Trail Blazers have been pretty bad defensively all year so their strong defensive showing is encouraging for this meeting, but isn’t likely to be repeated. Memphis shot just 35.6-percent from the floor and got next to no production on the outside where Andrew Harrison and Troy Williams started and combined for six points.
On the other side, the Blazers’ production—at least offensively—was almost exclusively from the guard position. Mason Plumlee was overmatched in the middle against Marc Gasol and had the worst point margin of any player on either side—save for Zach Randolph.
Of course Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum each scored their fair share, at least comparatively, though the two combined to shoot just 13 for 31 from the floor as the team as a whole shot just 30.5-percent on field goals and 25-percent from three-point range.
Overall, Portland is averaging nearly 15-percentage points better shooting on the floor and more than a 10-percentage point jump beyond the arc.
In November, it was the Blazers that came through with a win in Memphis. Portland shot much better that day as McCollum carried the team shooting 13 for 23 for 37 points including six threes.
Once again, however, it was Gasol at the head of the class for the Grizzlies scoring 21, but Mike Conley was the lone Memphis starter to have a positive differential while on the court.
Player to Watch
Watch Conley in this game as the Blazers will get most of their points off Lillard and McCollum. Conley will need to perform both offensively and defensively.
Offensively, the gate will be left open as neither of the Blazers’ star guards are too concerned on the defensive end of the court.
Conley missed the last meeting with Portland due to a back injury, but when he’s been on the court, he’s been very consistent. He’s scored at least 15-points in each of this last 13 games and is the team’s assists leader as well with 6.2 per game.
While the team has Gasol and Randolph on the inside, Conley is the big threat on the parameter, shooting over forty-percent on threes, and given the makeup of the opposition that’s an important role.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Portland has the home court advantage, but we’ve seen Memphis play well against the Blazers and on the road.
In the end, defense will be the difference. Don’t look for another game as low scoring as their last meeting, but Portland can be held in check on offense while they struggle themselves to keep the opposition at bay.
Memphis has seen the offense improve over the last few weeks and that should continue. Take the Grizzlies to rally behind Gasol in the center and get a victory at the Moda Center.
NBA Odds: Grizzlies 104, Trail Blazers 97
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