Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets Predictions and Odds Jan 21
Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang offers his Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets betting preview for Friday, January 21. At the time of posting, the Nuggets have opened as an 3.5-point home favorite over the visiting Grizzlies, with the total sitting at 221.5 points.
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| Friday, January 21 | NBA Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Memphis Grizzlies +3.5 vs Denver Nuggets |
| Total: | 221.5 Points |
| Game Time: | 9:10pm ET / 6:10pm PT |
| Arena: | Ball Arena in Denver, CO |
| TV: | Altitude |
Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets Analysis
The Grizzlies have come back down to earth after their scorching hot winning streak of 11 games came to an end, and now with injuries to Brooks, Anderson and Bane they’ve lost two of three. They’ll travel to Denver who are actually the healthiest they’ve been in a while, and they’ve won three out of four, and the Nuggets will open up as -3.5 favorites with a total of 221.5, so we will take a look at both teams and see what wager presents itself to us
Wounded Grizzlies
Life comes at you fast in the NBA as the Grizzlies were mowing through the league before injuries to Bane and Anderson tripped them up. They lost by 27 to Dallas with Bane in the starting and by 12 to Milwaukee with a 13 point win to another wounded team, Chicago, mixed in. We need to be careful when looking at against the spread trends for Memphis as they are 8-2 the last 10, but they are 1-2 their last three without Bane and Anderson. We saw against Milwaukee that Morant and Jackson can score as they went for 62 points combined, but it was a big drop-off after that as to who will provide offensive production. Nothing stands out for trends on the over/under with Memphis, but it’s worth noting that the bigs of Memphis had huge days as Giannis and Portis combined for 47 points and 24 rebounds, so Jokic might be in line for a big night.
Nuggets Benefiting From Multiple Contributors
Denver is 6-4 in 2022, but we see a pretty clear trend of them losing to high quality teams and winning against low quality teams as their six wins have been against HOU, SAC, OKC, POR, LAL, and LAC. Their losses have been against DAL, LAC, and UTAH twice. It should be no surprise that they are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10, and 4-6 over/under in their last 10. They’ve had some nice contributions on offense from different players as they’ve had four different leading scorers in their last five games, and they played earlier this season in a two point win by Memphis, however Bane and Anderson played in that game, and Jokic had a big game going for 34-11-4.
Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets Prediction
I was pretty alarmed to see how many points Memphis gave up to Milwaukee last game to the centers and power forwards, and Aaron Gordon and Jokic have been playing well recently. Adams and Jaren Jackson are going to have their hands full, and I’m not sure what I’m going to get from Memphis on offense tonight, but I think Denver gets over their team total of 112.5 tonight as the defense of Memphis has been middle of the road all season as they rank 15th in points allowed, but without Brooks, Bane and Anderson they’re going to be relying on less than stellar bench players to defend, and that’s a big advantage Denver tonight.
PREDICTION: Nuggets OVER 112.5 Team Total
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Friday’s #NBA Notes and Trends:
📝The under is 10-3 in Charlotte’s last 13 games.
📝Orlando is 4-14 against the spread at home.
📝Miami is 7-1 ATS in their last eight games.
📝Each of Toronto’s last six games have stayed under the total.
➡️https://t.co/RHOuvHZvdC pic.twitter.com/FBWQEK20vf— GoldSheet (@thegoldsheet) January 21, 2022
Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets Preview from GoldSheet
The Grizzlies have suffered a couple of flash knockdowns after their win streak reached 11 into late last week, but we suppose it any team deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Memphis, as losses to Luka Doncic and the Mavs, and the Bucks, are understandable. Not sure we can trust the Nuggets to do the same unless Nikola Jokic delivers another 49 points as he did in the OT win vs. the Clippers two nights ago.
The Joker wasn’t quite as dominant in a pair of early season back-to-backs vs the Grizzlies back at the start of November, though he did score 34 in the Nov. 3 game at FedEx Forum that Denver lost by 2. Jaren Jackson, Jr. actually featured in that game for Memphis when scoring 22 after Ja Morant shot holes in the Nuggets two nights earlier when scoring 26. Defensive issues have bedeviled Denver all season, as well as an alarming tendency to tail off after halftime; the Nugs entered this week plus 8.8 points per 100 possessions in the first halves of games and minus 7.7 points per 100 possessions in the second half.
It’s also not just Morant fueling the upward Memphis surge, as the Grizzlies crashes the glass with abandon (ranking second in offensive rebounding percentage) and generally take care of the ball. Jokic remains capable of 40+ on any night, but short of that we’d rather back Memphis, which had won six straight away before running into Milwaukee on Wednesday, while also leaning a bit to the “over” with the Nuggets recent four straight that way and Memphis “over” 4-2-1 its last seven, making us think this one might be a little higher scoring than the first two meetings which each stayed “under” in November.
NBA Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Friday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets contest.
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