Game Time: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, March 8th, 2022 

Venue:  FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Grizzlies -5.5; O/U 231.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Grizzlies -6; O/U 231.5

BetMGM:  Spread: Grizzlies: -5.5; O/U 231.5

Pelicans: 27-37, 10th place Western Conference

Grizzlies: 44-22, 3rd place Western Conference

And when I looked back over the beach, that was my life.. I noticed only one set of footprints… I asked Jesus… “where were you?’... Jesus responded “I was trying to get you to draft Ja Morant numbskull”. When these two Western Conference teams play head to head one big question comes to the surface… “who won that draft?”  The answer of course is Memphis.  Memphis won the 2019 NBA draft by NOT having the first pick.  Anyone who had the first pick that year would have drafted PF Zion Williamson.  The inertia was too much.  Zion was a player that was hyped on social media before his first college game… when his Freshman year at Duke began he quickly overtook Cam Reddish and RJ Barett who were also NBA bound and who were ranked higher than Zion.  After six games at Duke the writing was on the wall… Zion Williamson was the best player in college basketball… he could do anything. Dunking, Scoring, Passing, Shooting…  Zion could score in any number of ways from the power forward position.  His reduced height was made up for by his big shoulders and hips that blew other players off of the box.  The hype got so great that former President Barack Obama came to see Zion play live… Zion immediately injured himself and didn’t return to the game.  Most players I know would have taped the ankle and played for the President… but Zion and his camp doesn’t risk anything.  Not too far away in Kentucky… Zion’s high school age teammate Ja Morant was the best player at the small school of Murray State… not only the best player there, but Ja became the first player in NCAA history to average over 20 pts and 10 Asts for an entire season!  The draft approached and everyone couldn’t wait for Ziopn… don’t let anyone tell you they wanted Ja instead of Zion.  That would be a lie.  The whole nation bought into Zion being the next Charles Barkley.  The draft happened and the Pelicans got Zion with the #1 pick and the Grizzlies got Ja Morant at #2.  The winner is the Grizzlies… and the Grizzlies may have won any draft within 3-4 years in any direction if they had drafted Ja Morant in a different year… That is how special Ja is…. The Pelicans would have lost any draft within 4-5 years in any direction had they taken Zion.  Ja is an all-star and MVP candidate.  Zion has played 33.1 % of the games covered by his rookie contract so far.  Also Zion’s family is making rumblings about Zion being on the wrong team to maximize his advertising earnings… maybe Zion’s family knows about a city in America that pays big money for guys who will not play and may medically retire in the next few seasons.  Ja is 6’3 180 lbs… Zion is 6’5 300.  Zion will never again have a healthy season… Pelicans fans need to fantasize about a team taking him off their hands instead of the next time they see fatty play.

The Pelicans have won 5 of their last ten games.  They are 5-5 ATS during that stretch.  It is not impressive… unless you are New orleans… If you are in New Orleans it means not losing more than you win.  That is about all the Pelicans can hope for in that funky spot of getting a play-in game… but not missing the NBA draft lottery.  The Pelicans are an awkward experiment this season.  They never got to play Zion and they never will… but they did trade for SG CJ McCollum to pair with SF Brandon Ingram and C Jonas Valanciunas.  That is a formidable trio.  Not a great trio… just formidable.  The team has also missed the services of PG Kira Lewis Jr all season.  The hope is he can return in time to pair with whoever they draft this year and whoever they trade Zion for…. Yes, they will trade Zion.  Anything else will be giving in to the sunken cost fallacy… where you just pour time, effort and most of all money into something that consistently loses.  Another big odd spot on this Pelicans roster is PF Jaxson Hayes… a player that constantly reminds them that they bungled the draft day trade with the Lakers.  Jaxson is at best a bench player… he will need to be replaced.

The Grizzlies won that draft… and now they are awesome.  They have won 6 of their last ten games.. Which doesn’t sound great until you realize that they went 9-1 over the last ten games stretch… so it is 15-5 over the last 20 games.  The winning has launched them into third place in the West just on the heels of the suddenly losing Golden State Warriors.  The Grizzlies are 6-4 ATS over their last ten games.  They are a good betting opportunity because when the #4 scoring team in the league wins a game… they tend to cover. For instance they beat these New Orleans Pelicans 121-109.  The spread in that game was Grizzlies -3.5.  An easy win and an easy cover.  The grizzlies benefit form PG Ja Morant for sure but they also have PF Jaren Jackson Jr who is good for 16.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 2.2 BLOCKS per game… Jaren leads the team in blocks and the Grizzlies lead the league in blocks.  Does this mean the Grizzlies are a great team… no.  They lost to the Houston Rockets (the worst of the worst) 123-112 in their last game. In that game Ja Morant, SG Desmond Bane and C Steven Adams played well but no one else seemed to show up at all.  So this leaves us with a good betting opportunity that is heavily vulnerable.

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New Orleans is 27-37 on the season, but 32-31-1 ATS.  They have logged 24 Overs, 38 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 12-20 in road games.

The Memphis Grizzlies are 44-22 on the season, but 43-23 ATS.  They have notched 34 Overs, 31 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 22-10 in home games.

The Pelicans are 22nd in scoring with 107.7 ppg, 7th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, and 15th in AST/To ratio with 1.7.

Our prediction for Tuesday, March 8th is…. Grizzlies 123 - Pelicans 111

The Grizzlies should run away from this especially when you consider that they always bounce back BIG from a loss to an underdog.  The last game shamed the Grizzlies and they will be dialed in against the Pelicans.  Bet Grizzlies to win and cover.  Avoid the over/under line.  The Pelicans have the ability to go cold in scoring which would make an Under… CJ McCollum has given them an ability to score in bunches which doesn’t win, but could push an Over.

The Pelicans have logged 32 Overs and 14 Unders after having won 4 or 5 of their last 6 games over the last 3 seasons.
The Pelicans are 1-5 ATS after having covered 4 of their last 5 ATS this season.
Memphis is 10-3 ATS after a loss of 10 or more points this season.

Pelicans: SF Larry Nance Jr (knee) Out ** PG Kira Lewis Jr (knee) Out ** PF Zion Williamson (foot) Out INDEFINITELY

Grizzlies: SG Dillon Brooks (ankle) Out

Pelicans: PF Jaxson Hayes, SF Brandon Ingram, C Jonas Valanciunas, SG CJ McCollum, PG Herbert Jones

Grizzlies: SF Ziaire Williams, PF Jaren Jackson Jr, C Steven Adams, PG Ja Morant, SG Desmond Bane

Pelicans

Points: CJ McCollum 26.1

Assists: CJ McCollum 6.1

Rebounds: Jonas Valanciunas 11.6

Steals: Herbert Jones 1.6

Blocks: Herbert Jones 0.9

Grizzlies

Points: Ja Morant 27.6

Assists: Ja Morant 6.6

Rebounds: Steven Adams 9.8

Steals: De’Anthony Melton 1.6

Blocks: Jaren Jackson Jr 2.2

Pelicans: Willie Green

Grizzlies: Taylor Jenkins