NBA Series Preview: Spurs trying to sweep Memphis for the fourth time in five postseason series.
#7 Memphis Grizzlies (43-39) vs. #2 San Antonio Spurs (61-21).
Series Odds: Spurs -1050, Grizzlies +675.
Series schedule (courtesy of cbs.com):
Game 1 — Saturday, April 15, Memphis at San Antonio, 8 p.m., ESPN
Game 2 — Monday, April 17, Memphis at San Antonio 9:30 p.m., TNT
Game 3 — Thursday, April 20, San Antonio at Memphis 9:30 p.m., TNT
Game 4 — Saturday, April 22, San Antonio at Memphis 8 p.m., ESPN
Game 5 — Tuesday, April 25, Memphis at San Antonio, TBD
Game 6 — Thursday, April 27, San Antonio at Memphis, TBD
Game 7 — Saturday, April 29, Memphis at San Antonio, TBD, TNT
Regular season series: tied 2-2.
ATS records: Memphis 41-41, San Antonio 41-39-2.
Over/under records: Memphis 38-41-3, San Antonio 44-37-1.
Prediction: Spurs in 5 games.
The Grizzlies shocked the top-seeded Spurs as the #8 seed back in 2011 when Memphis beat them in the first round four games to two. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich will not allow this team to be shocked in the first round again.
The Spurs swept Memphis in the conference finals in 2013 and then swept them again last year in the first round. The only other time these two teams met was in the first round of 2004 when the Spurs swept them. As a result, the Spurs have a postseason record of 14-4 against Memphis.
It is no secret that the Grizzlies are going to slow down the pace. These veterans like to grind it out. Memphis is ranked #28 in pace, #3 in points allowed per game and #7 in defensive rating.
However, the Spurs are just fine with this style of play. In fact, they are even better than Memphis is at grinding it out. San Antonio is ranked #27 in pace, #2 in points allowed per game and #1 in defensive rating. So it should be no surprise that three out of their four games played during the regular season went under the Vegas total.
The home team won every game during the regular season. Kawhi Leonard did not play for the Spurs in their first meeting on February 6 and the Grizzlies won 89-74. Leonard did average 24.3 points per game (PPG) and 8.7 rebounds per game (RPG) in the three games he did play. LaMarcus Aldridge averaged 18 PPG and 8 RPG in his four games against the Grizzlies.
For Memphis, Mike Conley averaged 18 PPG and 6.8 assists per game (APG) in the season series. Marc Gasol averaged 13.8 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 4.5 APG, while Zach Randolph averaged 14.8 PPG and 9 RPG against the Spurs.
The biggest issue for the Grizzlies in this series shows up on the injury report because Tony Allen is out for the entire series with a strained right calf. Allen is the player who usually guards Leonard.
The Spurs could certainly sweep Memphis for the fourth time in five playoff series. I think Memphis has enough grit to get one win.
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