The Los Angeles Lakers continue their playoff hunt on Tuesday when they host the No. 2 seed in the West, the Memphis Grizzlies. The NBA lines would normally have the Lakers as underdogs in this game at home, especially with LeBron James on the shelf. But the Grizzlies will be without their best player in Ja Morant. I believe the Grizzlies rely on Morant more than the Lakers do on James, and this is a winnable game for LA.
Lakers Not Laying Down Without James
The big NBA news out of LA continues to be how the Lakers perform after injuries to James and newly acquired D’Angelo Russell. The pair has no date for return with James out for at least two more weeks. Meanwhile, Mo Bamba is listed as questionable for Tuesday.
The Lakers were 4-1 in the final five games before James got hurt and 2-2 in the four games since. The Grizzlies were one of those losses and beat down the Lakers 121-109 less than two weeks ago. However, LA beat the Golden State Warriors in Steph Curry’s return to action on Sunday after an 11-game absence.
Including the game James got hurt, the Lakers are 3-2 against the spread (ATS) in their previous five with a slim profit of 0.80 units. The Lake Show is reasonably profitable at home, with a season record of 16-14-1 ATS at the Crypto.com Arena.
Can Memphis Shoot Lights Out Without Morant?
The Lakers aren’t the only team missing their best player. Ja Morant is “taking time away from the team” after going live on social media brandishing a gun at a club. In their first game sans Morant, the Grizzlies went to overtime against the Los Angeles Clippers before losing 135-129. While that sounds like a positive, the truth is that the Grizzlies blew a 112-97 lead and scored just 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Watch the Game Highlights from LA Clippers vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 03/05/2023 pic.twitter.com/rKIfrVz03h
— Ofer Meisels (@OferMeisels) March 6, 2023
The loss of Morant is huge for this team, and he may be away from the Grizzlies longer than the two games Memphis dictated. As a result, the NBA Finals odds for Memphis slipped to +1800 since the incident.
Morant was clearly missed. The Grizzlies amassed 23 total fouls in the game and gave the Clippers 35 free throws as a result. LA punished Memphis by making 94.3% of their attempts from the charity stripe. Memphis made just 73.3% of their free passes and ranks last in the NBA at 72.4% overall from the line.
Grizzlies vs Lakers Game Injuries
Grizzlies vs Lakers Head-to-Head
The Grizzlies beat up the Lakers in their most recent showdown on Feb. 28 with a 12-point victory as nine-point favorites on the NBA betting lines. The win lifted the Grizzlies to a season series record of 2-1 straight up (SU) and ATS. In their last five meetings, Memphis is 4-1 SU against the Lakers.
Grizzlies vs Lakers Game Information
- Game: Grizzlies (38-25) vs Lakers (31-34)
- Location: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
- Day/Time: Tuesday, March 7, 10:00 p.m. ET
- Grizzlies vs Lakers Live stream: NBA Game Pass
Grizzlies vs Lakers Betting Lines
Grizzlies vs Lakers Picks and Prediction
It’s clear that the Lakers without LeBron are a better team overall than the Grizzlies without Morant. At least for one more game, the Lakers have an edge and should be able to capitalize. Memphis managed to cover as +7 point underdogs on the NBA point spread against the Clippers on Sunday. But my NBA picks for this game are on the Lakers to get revenge for the City of LA.
The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.
Grizzlies vs Lakers Trends
Grizzlies vs Lakers Edge
Grizzlies vs Lakers Results
Grizzlies vs Lakers Game Summary
Lakers vs Grizzlies Previous Game (Feb. 28, 2023)
Could it be true? Are the Los Angeles Lakers competitive again? It’s a small sample size, but the Lakers have been noticeably better since the trade deadline, going 4-1. However, they will face their first real test on Tuesday, the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the Lakers’ last game, they came back from being down 27 points to win 111-108 against the Dallas Mavericks. The Grizzlies beat the Denver Nuggets, 112-94, the team in front of them for the best record in the Western Conference, with the difference now 5.5 games.
All signs point to this game being high-scoring and quick-paced. Both teams are within the top three in pace, and each offense loves playing in transition. Due to the Grizzlies’ recent struggles and the Lakers’ playoff hopes, the teams could see this one as a must-win, which could make taking the over on the total points make sense.
If you want to refrain from that, the Grizzlies’ record at home speaks for itself, being one of the best in the NBA.
