The Portland Trail Blazers (52-34 SU, 41-44-1 ATS) made their first legitimate appearance in the playoffs on Monday night, as they played their best game of the series after three duds against the Memphis Grizzlies (58-28 SU, 43-41-2 ATS). Can they keep it up in Game 5 back at the Grindhouse?
NO ONE "CON" DO IT FOR MEMPHIS
The Grizzlies are figuring out just how badly they are missing Mike Conley Jr. Oh sure, in terms of counting stats, Nick Calathes filled in admirably, scoring 12 points in 24 minutes on the court, and he didn't even turn the ball over all that much with just two turnovers against three assists.
Where Conley really makes his money though, is on the defensive end of the court. Damian Lillard, who had previously been held to 35 percent shooting in this series, had 32 points on 12-of-23 from the field on Monday, and he was able to create whatever shot he essentially wanted either for himself or for his teammates.
The rest of the Trail Blazers shot just 37.5 percent from the floor for the evening.
It's a testament to just how important Conley is to this team, and if he can't get back on the floor on Wednesday as is expected to be the case, the Grizz are in a lot of trouble, and you'll probably have a lot of opportunities for success in live betting on the underdogs.
NO FLO TO THE PORTLAND OFFENSE
Even with Lillard playing well, there is a real hole in this lineup right now at the shooting guard spot. Arron Afflalo did return from his shoulder injury which cost him Games 1 and 2, but he has only scored five points in two games with roughly 46 minutes on the court.
Simply put, that isn't going to cut it for this offense. Granted, we know that Portland doesn't need a ton of scoring out of its 2-guard with Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge on the court, but what we found out early in this series is that a two-man game is going to falter and falter miserably here in the Grindhouse.
Nicolas Batum has tried to be a stretch three, but he is shooting just 37.9 percent for the series and has almost as many turnovers (10) as made three-point shots (12), which isn't a good ratio.
C.J. McCollum also played well in Game 4, shooting 8-of-12 with 18 points, a game which followed up his 26-point showing in Game 3.
But can the Lehigh product really do it on the road? That's the big question we are asking right now. If McCollum looks as lost as he was in Games 1 and 2 when he scored a total of just eight points in the two games, betting on Memphis in live betting might be crucial.
EFFICIENCY KEY FOR THE OVER
The Grizzlies can score some points. We know that they can get into the low-100s in this series for sure. The problem that they have had is that they have found the sledding tough just outside of the painted area.
Normally speaking, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are around 50 percent shooters from the floor. In this series, they are shooting 37.5 percent and 34.3 percent respectively. Jeff Green too, is only hitting 27.9 percent of his shots, and he is a dreadful 25 percent from inside the arc.
Possessions are going to take a while sometimes, but if the Grizzlies can start getting better looks to wear down a very thin Portland front line, we can see this game total consistently rising in live betting. Don't miss out on the proceedings while the getting is good!
BookMaker had the spread for this Wednesday soiree posted before anyone else on the internet. The Grizzlies opened at -5, while the total surfaced at 191.5. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The showdown between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies will start at 9:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN. The contest will be broadcast on TNT.
