The San Antonio Spurs (15-4) travel to the FedExForum to take on the Memphis Grizzlies (11-8) in a matchup of the Southwest Division’s top two teams. The game starts at 9:30 pm ET on Thursday, Dec. 3 and will air on TNT, FSW and C+D.
The Grizzlies were victorious over the Pelicans 113-104 on Tuesday. With 38 points and 13 rebounds, Marc Gasol recorded his fourth double-double this season. The Spurs, meanwhile, are coming off a 95-70 win over the Bucks on Wednesday. Tim Duncan played well, accumulating 16 points and 10 rebounds to claim his sixth double-double of the season.
The stingy Spurs defense should have a clear edge in terms of effective field goal percentage. They rank third in the league in forcing misses (opponents’ effective field goal percentage of 45.5%), while the brick-laying Grizzlies offense is 29th with a mark of 46.1%.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Spurs won the first game 92-82. Tony Parker was a top performer in the victory with 18 points, one rebound, three assists, one steal, and one block.
The Grizzlies are a slight two-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 188 points. The Grizzlies are attempting to build on their records of 11-8 Straight Up (SU) and 9-10 Against The Spread (ATS). They have the same record SU and ATS against division opponents, going 4-1. Memphis has been steady from the free throw line, shooting a league-high .840. Memphis has given up very few turnovers with only an average of 13.4 per game.
On the other side, San Antonio has a SU record of 15-4 and an ATS record of 12-7. San Antonio has records of 8-2 SU and 6-4 ATS against the West. San Antonio is one of the top shooting teams in the league, hitting .465 of its shots from the floor. The Spurs are a top-five team in the league at finding the open man with an average of 24.6 assists per game. San Antonio’s defense as a whole has been firing on all cylinders so far, averaging an NBA-best 88.8 points allowed per game. Teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Spurs, who are the third-best team in the league in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .418. When it comes to defending the rim, the Spurs are one of the best in the league with an average of 6.5 blocks per game.
With the Spurs’ last win against Memphis, their SU record against the Grizzlies moves to 8-2 over the last 10 meetings. Additionally, the Spurs lead the matchup ATS with a record of 7-3.
Predictions: SU Winner – SA, ATS Winner – SA, O/U – Under
Notes
Memphis is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 17 of Memphis’s last 25 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Memphis’s last 6 games at home.
Memphis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Memphis is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Memphis’s last 13 games when playing San Antonio.
Memphis is 2-11 SU in its last 13 games when playing San Antonio.
Memphis is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against San Antonio.
Memphis is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against San Antonio.
San Antonio ranks 20th in points per game with 98.6, while Memphis ranks 13th in points allowed with an average of 99.7 given up.
San Antonio puts up an average of 98.1 points per away game (ranked 16th). Memphis ranks 19th in points allowed per home game with 99.0.
When the Grizzlies give up fewer than 100 points to their opponents, they are 6-3. When the Spurs score fewer than 100 points, they also have a superb record (9-3).
When Memphis allows 100 or more points in a game, the team is an even 5-5 this season. San Antonio, on the other hand, has an outstanding record (6-1) when it hits triple digits.
The Spurs have the league’s top defense, with a defensive rating of 92.5. The Grizzlies have an offensive rating of 100.4 (ranked 21st).
The Memphis Grizzlies average 96.7 possessions per game and 1.004 points per possession, while the San Antonio Spurs earn fewer possessions (96.0) but more points per possession (1.028).
The San Antonio Spurs have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking sixth in the league with an EFF% of 50.7%. When their opponents have a similar or higher EFF%, the Memphis Grizzlies are 4-6.
On average, the San Antonio Spurs make 24.6 assists per game and the Memphis Grizzlies make 20.8. San Antonio is ranked third, while Memphis is ranked 18th.
The San Antonio Spurs average 6.5 blocks per game, the fifth-ranked team in the league. The Memphis Grizzlies rank a lowly 27th in blocking with just 3.8 per game.
The Memphis Grizzlies rank 17th in offensive rebounding, while the San Antonio Spurs rank second in defensive rebounding.
Making 8.9 steals per game, Memphis is ranked seventh in the NBA. San Antonio has a stellar 7-1 record when it allows at least 8 steals.
