The Memphis Grizzlies had their two-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday with a gut-wrenching 103-95 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Grizzlies simply had no answer for Russell Westbrook who recorded his 18th triple-double of the season. It was a disappointing defeat for the Grizzlies who dropped down to 24-17 in the team standings.
They will look to get their season back on track when they lock horns with Houston later tonight. The Grizzlies will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Rockets of late. They have won four of their last six meetings with the Rockets. The total has gone over in each of their last three matches.
For the Grizzlies to grab the victory tonight, they will need to dictate the tempo and slow the pace down. They can ill afford to engage Houston in a shooting contest. The Grizzlies are ranked 28th in the NBA in pace and 25th in scoring (99.2 PPG). What’s keeping Memphis afloat this season is its stingy defense. The Grizzlies are third in the NBA in scoring defense, surrendering just 98.7 points per game this season. They will have their work cut out for them, however, against a Houston side that’s averaging 114.6 points per game, third-highest in the NBA this campaign.
The Grizzlies are 4-6 SU and ATS in their last 10 road games.
The Houston Rockets had their nine-game unbeaten run snapped on Wednesday with a 119-105 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a disappointing defeat for the Rockets who lost for the first time this season to a team with a losing record. With that loss, Houston fell on the second night of a back-to-back for the first time in 10 occurrences.
The Rockets struggled to find their offensive rhythm in that ballgame as they continued to miss the services of sixth man Eric Gordon. He has been a revelation for Houston this season, averaging 17.8 points and 2.9 assists per game off the bench. With Gordon still questionable for tonight’s clash against Memphis with a sprained left big toe, the onus is on James Harden to carry the offensive load once again for the Rockets. He has been a vital cog in Houston’s success this season, leading the team not only in points (28.6 PPG) but also in rebounds (8.3 RPG) and assists (11.8 APG) as well.
He can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the other Houston players to step up their play as well. One guy who’s expected to contribute tonight is Ryan Anderson. He exploded for a season-high 31 points against Memphis in their first meeting this season. Anderson shot 10-of-18 from the field in that contest, going 8-of-14 from beyond the three-point area.
The Rockets are 9-1 SU and 5-5 ATS in their last 10 home games.
