The Western Conference started the year very slowly. But, over the past month, a few teams have come out of the woodwork and established themselves as the clear alphas in what is ordinarily the cream of the crop in the NBA.
One of those two will take the floor against the Lakers on Friday night. That team would be the squad with 11 consecutive victories, the Memphis Grizzlies.
Many Grizzlies vs Lakers picks will be made all around the league, and you’re likely to find a similar trend throughout. Memphis has been on fire. They survived a Cavs team without Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday night, Steven Adams bailing them out with a late tip-in to help guide them into the win column yet again. It has been hard to stop them, and only the Denver Nuggets are ahead of them, and it’s by just half a game.
The race for the #1 seed in the conference is clearly between two teams. Let’s preview and make our Grizzlies vs Lakers picks for this thriller that’s set to go down on Friday night.
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers Odds
The NBA schedule has been kind to the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are being favored, with the point spread set to -6. The Lakers and Grizzlies share the same point spread odds at -110.
Memphis is a huge -280 favorite on the moneyline NBA odds today, while Los Angeles is the +230 underdog.
The total points is set to 243.5 points. The over and under are both listed at -110 as of publication.
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers Information
Memphis Grizzlies (31-13) vs Los Angeles Lakers (20-25)
Date: Friday, January 20. 10:00 PM ET.
Location of the game: crypto.com Arena. Los Angeles, CA.
How to watch: ESPN.
Memphis Grizzlies vs Los Angeles Lakers Betting Preview
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have been an interesting team this year. Aside from four- and five-game winning streaks, Los Angeles has not played great. Losses have piled up on them this season, and they have not established any consistency.
Anthony Davis has been shuffling in and out of the lineup and has been out for almost a month now.
The Los Angeles Lakers standings are a bit odd. They are ranked 13th overall in the West. This is normally a place you’d hate to sit after 45 games, especially considering you have LeBron James on your team.
But the West’s gap between the number 5 and number 13 ranked teams is less than four games.
Almost every team is still in the running, and anything can happen if they can get AD healthy. The starters have all played horribly, which explains many of the recent losses. But the bench has been great.
NBA matchups always pose interesting scenarios. In this one, we’ll get two guards who like to talk trash as much as anybody in the game today.
Russell Westbrook might not be starting anymore, but he’s still playing at a high level off the bench in L.A. He’s posting occasional triple-doubles and proving himself a capable number 2 option for the team behind LeBron James. He’ll rock the cradle and do what he can to get in the opponent’s head.
Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis hasn’t lost a game since December 27th, which was over three weeks ago. It’s been a minute, and with Ja Morant and a healthy Desmond Bane leading the offensive attack, it’s going to take a lot to knock them off their perch. This will factor into our Grizzlies vs Lakers picks.
Memphis has been favored in almost every game during their current winning streak, and there are obvious reasons for that: Memphis boasts the number 5 scoring offense and the number 8 scoring defense. Any team who is top 10 in both areas is automatically elite.
As for Ja Morant, he’s still throwing down dunks with the things we never, as a basketball collective, have seen before. He gets insanely high, and yet, no trampoline is present.
He delivered another clutch performance against the Cavs and remains one of the game’s most popular and clutch players.
What doesn’t Morant do? He’s able to fill the basket as a scorer. As a defender, he’s doing enough. And on the facilitating side, he’s averaging nearly eight assists a game. This is a career-high for Morant.
Most Grizzlies vs Lakers picks will lean heavily toward the Morant and the Grizzlies as favorites.
Memphis Grizzlies vs Los Angeles Lakers Betting Prediction
For all their faults, injuries, and shortcomings, the Lakers boast the number 8 scoring offense in the league. LeBron averaging close to 30 points per game is a big part of that, as is Westbrook, who is pouring in 16 points a game with seven rebounds and eight assists.
They have played the last few weeks without Lonnie Walker IV and Austin Reaves, who both project to return by early February. With them out, the defense has suffered, as has the Lakers’ perimeter shooting.
They will be facing the number 5 scoring offense while boasting the number 27 scoring defense.
We wish good luck to Thomas Bryant in keeping Steven Adams off the glass. This leaves LeBron to carry the rebounding workload and having to contend with Jaren Jackson Jr. Wenyen Gabriel has been a pleasant surprise off the bench, while the re-emergence of Kendrick Nunn of late has been key to their scoring improvement. This will be hard.
Six-point favorites, Memphis is feeling good about their chances to make it 12 in a row. They have been a tough out all season, and now that all of their core guys are together, they have proven difficult to stop. Tyus Jones runs the second unit impressively, giving them 48 quality minutes of point guard play.
What more could you ask for from the team?
It’s hard to say if they will make any moves at the deadline in a few weeks, but one thing is for sure: they’re a dangerous bunch.
Memphis Grizzlies predictions say that is the team to take here. Patrick Beverley has been off his game all year, and he’d be the first guy they would pick to guard Ja.
Grind City will keep things going, coming away with yet another dub. Tonight’s victory will mark 12 wins in a row and further cement Memphis as the elite team in the Western Conference.
Our NBA picks: Memphis ML, Memphis -6, Over.
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