After stealing home-court advantage for this Western Conference playoff series with an upset victory in Game 1, the Grizzlies shoot for a big bowl of gravy when the teams meet for Game 2 Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. Memphis beat Utah outright Sunday as a 7.5-point underdog; now, the Grizzlies are getting a bucket more than that. Here’s our homework for this match-up, with our free NBA betting pick.
NBA Playoffs Betting Odds
Much of the NBA playoff betting market opened Utah at -8 for this Game 2, with an over/under of right around 219. Early betting action then juiced the Jazz to -9 to -10 depending on which sportsbook you lay your bets.
Any bettors out there thinking Memphis might win this game outright like it did Game 1 could get a price of +400 at several online sportsbooks.
Grizzlies-Jazz NBA Betting Preview
Upstart Memphis grabbed the opener of this best-of-seven playoff series last Sunday 112-109. The Grizzlies trailed by 12 points in the second quarter, then used a 31-7 run spanning the halves to take a double-digit lead. Memphis was still up 94-77 with under 10 minutes left, then let Utah pull within one point with six seconds to go. The Grizz then added a lay-up, then survived a long Jazz 3-point miss in the final moments for the victory.
Memphis won Game 1 outright as a dog of 7.5 points and cashed in on the money line at a price of +265.
Also, Game 1 played over a total of 217 despite some prolonged offensive droughts by both teams.
Memphis shot 45 percent from the floor Sunday and held Utah to 42 percent FG shooting. And while the Grizzlies got out-rebounded by the Jazz 50-42, they grabbed 16 offensive boards, which helped them out-scored Utah 62-42 in the paint. Memphis also won the turnover battle 16-9.
Going back three weeks, the Grizzlies are 8-1 over their last nine games.
The Jazz, meanwhile, are only 2-3 over their last five games.
Utah finished 14 games ahead of Memphis in the regular-season standings, 52-30 to 38-34. The Jazz also swept three games from the Grizzlies during the regular season by an average score of 118-110, going 2-1 ATS along the way. One of those games played very close; another involved a Memphis rally that made things close at the end, and the other game played as basically a Utah blow-out.
The big news for Game 2 of this series is the probable return of Utah G Donovan Mitchell (26 PPG this season), who missed the last 16 games of the regular season, and Game 1 of this series with a bad ankle. But it appears he will play Wednesday night. The Jazz played 39-14 SU, 31-22 ATS with Mitchell on the floor this season.
- Get more details: MEM/UTAH 5/26/21 Matchup Stats
Grizzlies-Jazz NBA Betting Trends
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Memphis played 20-16 SU, 21-14 ATS on the road this season.
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Utah played 31-5 SU, 23-13 ATS at home this season.
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Memphis played 16-21 SU, 23-14 ATS against teams that made the playoffs this season.
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Utah played 22-14 SU, 21-15 ATS vs. teams that made the playoffs this season.
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Memphis played 9-7 ATS this season as a dog of five points or more.
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Utah played 10-8 ATS this season when favored by between 9-12 points.
Totals Report
Totals split 36-36 in Grizzlies games this season, which averaged 226 total points. Unders played 38-33 in Jazz games this season, which averaged 224 points. Overs are 3-1 in Grizzlies-Jazz games this season, which are averaging 227 points.
