If not for Sunday’s late-game heroics, Tuesday’s NBA postseason play-in game pitting the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies (48-34) against the Warriors (48-34) would not have featured Golden State.
The Warriors lost 124-119 in overtime to the Clippers, giving Los Angeles the fifth seed in the Western Conference postseason. It was Golden State’s third loss in its past five outings, including a surprising defeat against San Antonio.
Memphis won their final regular season game to end in a tie with the Warriors, but the Grizzlies had lost two straight to Western Conference foes before that victory. Now, they’ll look for only their third win over Golden State in the past two years on Tuesday night.
Can Golden State continue its dominance over Memphis, or will the Grizzlies claw their way to a postseason victory over the Warriors? We’ll cover that and our three favorite player prop bets from Tuesday’s play-in game.
It’s been over a dozen years since Golden State point guard Steph Curry was held without a point in an NBA game. The Grizzlies nearly accomplished that this season, holding the 6-foot-2 star to just two points in their 144-93 victory in December.
Bettors should expect a better performance on Tuesday. It might not match his April Fool’s Day scoring spree, a game where he dropped 52 points against the Grizzlies in these two teams’ latest matchup. Still, bettors can expect Curry to hit 30 points in this play-in game as Curry covers his player prop bet.
Curry’s counterpart – Ja Morant – was also money for the Grizzlies on April 1st. The point guard poured in 36 points and dished out six assists to lead Memphis in a losing effort.
That was the first of his three games this month where he’s finished with at least 34 combined points and assists. Bettors had racked up the profits from taking Morant to cover this player prop bet when March began.
He’s been hit or miss since March 29th to cover this combined mark. Still, I expect Golden State will struggle to keep him from scoring, allowing him to cover this player prop bet on Tuesday.
You can’t blame rookie center Zach Edey for the Grizzlies’ struggles down the stretch. The 7-foot-4 player has been a rebounding machine, averaging 15.7 boards per outing in April.
That includes a 16-rebound performance against Golden State at the start of the month. The Warriors’ recent performance bolsters this pick. Against the Clippers, Golden State was out-rebounded 42-25 against a team that lacks the height that Edey brings to the table.
Expect the rookie to make the most of his first playoff appearance, grabbing at least 11 rebounds for the sixth time in his last six outings.
Memphis had a rollercoaster finish to their regular season, winning only six of their past 15 games. That’s not the only alarming stat for the Grizzlies, however. You’ll have to go back to January 30 to find a Memphis win over a Western Conference team that finished ahead of them in the standings.
Golden State has two such victories this month alone after pulling out wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. While the Warriors should win this contest, expect this game to be close. Expect Memphis to keep this game close but ultimately lose to the Warriors on Tuesday night.
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