Defending NBA champions the Golden State Warriors head back home following a unsuccessful 6-game road trip to host the Memphis Grizzlies on Christmas Day. Tip-off is at 8:00 pm ET on ABC and ESPN, I’ve prepared another Same Game Parlay which is available below.
Also make sure to check out our NBA predictions for picks on the side and total for Sunday’s 5-game slate. Let’s dive into the Grizzlies vs Warriors matchup now.
It was a rather disappointing 6-game road trip for the Warriors, with just 1 win and 5 losses. They suffered 4 losses by double-digit margins, with their last 2 being by 38 and 30 at the hands of the Knicks and Nets. The long list of injuries is mainly to be blamed for that, and right now the Warriors are without Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, JaMychal Green and Donte DiVincenzo. That’s not the news you want to hear when facing one of the biggest threats to dethrone you in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies are surging with 8 wins in their last 10 games. They’ve also beaten the Warriors 2 games in a row and in 3 of the last 4 meetings, with their last win coming at home 123-95. Desmond Bane just returned from injury, so Memphis should get even better as the season progresses. After seeing the Warriors get dismantled on the road by the Knicks and Nets, I think they’ll need some time to bounce back. Back Memphis to win big.
Although Bane is back from injury, he will most likely sit out this game as his team probably wants to ease him back into playing on a regular basis following his recovery from injury. That means the Grizzlies will revert to their strategy of having the ball mostly in Ja Morant’s hands on offense. He played just 28 minutes in the blowout win over Phoenix, managing to record 11 assists in the process. The Grizzlies are at their best when Morant is flourishing in the assists department, that’s been the case in 6 of the 8 games played in December, in which he has been able to record double-digit assists. His average would be a lot higher if it wasn’t for 2 games in which he had 3 and 2 assists. Golden State is just unable to prevent their opponent’s ball movement lately, allowing 30 assists per game over their last 3 games and the Nets just recorded 42 assists against them. Klay Thompson is no longer the defender he once was and he won’t be able to stay in front of Morant, so hopefully Ja can get his teammates involved.
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