Big men are dropping like flies for the Memphis Grizzlies. They're going to really have no choice but to go into the TD Garden with a tremendously small lineup, and that could give a huge advantage to the Boston Celtics.
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SCHEDULING
Boston was whooped by Cleveland on Saturday night, but that 120-103 loss was really easy to see coming. The Celtics had to play just that one road game before coming back home, and they were at home against the Knicks the night before in a tough 105-104 victory.
Live bettors should like this spot much more for Boston. It will have three straight days off in a row before the Grizz come to town.
Memphis meanwhile, has to play against the aforementioned Cavs at the Q on Monday before shipping off to Boston Wednesday night.
KEY MATCHUP
It's all about the bigs here for the Grizzlies. Zach Randolph is really going to have to play the center spot due to the fact that all of Marc Gasol, Brandan Wright and Chris Andersen are banged up. We'll probably see a lot more of Ryan Hollins as well with men like Matt Barnes and JaMychal Green, players who are traditional power forwards, being forced into the center spot.
Brad Stevens has one of the best minds in the game, and he knows that means Jared Sullinger is going to have a field day.
Live bettors should really keep a close eye in this one on Sullinger. Over the course of these last three games, he's averaged 13.7 points and 12.0 boards per game, and he's been avoiding the turnover bugaboo as well with just three in total in his last three.
Sullinger is the man who really opens this offense up from time to time, especially when he can stretch out the floor. That gives more driving lanes for Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley, both of which love to be aggressive.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
Pace of play is going to be vital on Wednesday night. The Celtics rank No. 3 in the NBA in pace at 101.3 possessions per game. Memphis is far behind at 95.3, tied for second to last. Whichever team wins this battle of pace is likely to come out the winner, and it surely will have a big swing in the total.
In January when these teams collided at the FedEx Forum, Memphis scored a 101-98 victory. The pace of play was certainly in favor of Boston, though. The Grizzlies attempted 84 shots from the field and 40 more from the foul line, and they turned the ball over 21 times as well. Of course, getting 21 offensive rebounds surely helped out the cause. Randolph had eight of the 21 as a part of his 25 points and 13 rebounds for the day.
On the road though, the Grizzlies are far different for total bettors. They're 21-11-1 towards the over at home and 17-12 for under backers on the road.
Four of Boston's last five games have failed to reach the total as well, though the argument for live bettors could be that that's a case of market correction. The Celtics had played their previous seven past the total, all but one of which featured at least 219 points.
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