Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, January 28th, 2022 

Venue:  FedEx Forum, Memphis Tennessee

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Grizz -3; O/U 224

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: Grizz -2.5; O/U 224.5

WynnBet: Spread:  Grizz -2.5; O/U 224.5

Jazz: 30-19, 4th place Western Conference

Grizzlies: 33-17, 3rd place Western Conference

This may be Friday’s Game Of The Night!!  A Western Conference battle between #3 and #4.. Especially since #4 used to be #3 and was only recently jumped in the standings.  The Grizzlies have been on an absolute tear that has the TV talking heads shouting about what NBA fans have known for the last 2 seasons… “Ja Morant is the best young player in the game!  And he gets better seemingly every month he plays!”  The comparisons that are out there are nothing but complimentary… “Ja is playing like Derrick Rose in Derrick’s MVP season!”.. “Ja is playing like Tracy Mc Grady when Tracy landed in Orlando!”... I have even seen the sacrilegious take: “Ja is playing like a young Michael Jordan… willing his team to win!”  Only one of those can be disputed, what can’t be is that Ja is great.  The most pressing comparison Ja is forcing at the moment is that of Zion Williamson to Greg Oden. It’s true.  Zion can’t stay on the court and Ja is the best young scorer in the game.  This has happened before with #1 and #2 picks and that was Greg Oden and Kevin Durant in 2007.  Where are we a decade and a half later?  Ja’s ascension does not mean that Utah will rollover.  Quite the contrary… Utah’s two stars, SG Donovan Mitchell and C Rudy Gobert, are known for grit.  They have been posting wins year after year under some pretty tough circumstances… The biggest of which is that they have to live in Salt Lake City… knowing full well that no quality player will join them as a free agent.  They only get help when the front office succeeds in a trade or with a draft pick.  Still they do have solid role players around them.  This is a matchup that can literally shake the gym… when they are healthy?.. The Jazz are not healthy… Both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell will be sidelined.  They are both injured.  RUN, don’t walk to your Sportsbook and put money on the Grizzlies now! … go ahead, I’ll wait… c’mon I’m serious… before the point spread grows!  You can get the Grizz at - 2.5 right now from Wynn… Get it!

The Utah Jazz have only won 2 of their last 10 games… It is why they have fallen to 4th and are about to fall again.  They are coming off losing back to back games against the Phoenix Suns… The last win was January 21st against the Detroit Pistons.  Also Utah has been losing big with only 2 wins ATS in their last 10 games.  They were beginning to struggle before Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert went down… You will not see betting lines this great next week.

The Memphis Grizzlies have won 7 of their last ten games. They are also struggling against a spate of injuries to starter SF Kyle Anderson, PG Tyus Jones, and SG Devin Brooks… yet that leaves them with their two best players PG Ja Morant and PF Jaren Jackson Jr. and a host of quality role players.  In fact SF Kyle Anderson may come back from injury/illness to find he has permanently lost his starting job to SF Zaire Williams… the rookie #10 over pick in the last draft is coming out of his shell and playing fantastic defense for a rookie.  If his offense catches up to him he’ll be bigtime in no time.

At the risk of sounding "cocky," I've made betting on the NBA look pretty easy this season. Yesterday's winner on Boston gives me a 34-16 (68%) YTD record with NBA sides! Not to be outdone, I'm also 7-2 L9 NBA totals! Though I ended up on the wrong side of Bills-KC, it was a 4-1 Sunday overall! My record over the L13 days is 33-19 with all picks! Go get it! Get Will Rogers’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

The Jazz are 30-19 on the season, but 21-26-2 ATS.  They have logged 24 Overs, 24 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 15-9 in road games.

The Grizzlies are 33-17 on the season, but 32-18 ATS.  They have notched 24 Overs, 25 Unders, and 1 push.  They are 17-9 in home games.

The Utah Jazz are 2nd in scoring with 113.8 ppg, 4th in rebounds with 46.2 per game, and 27th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6. They are shooting 4th in FG%, 5th in 3PT%, and 15th in FT%.

The Grizzlies are 6th in scoring with 111.8 ppg, 1st in rebounds with 48.2 per game, 8th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. They are shooting 16th in FG%, 23rd in 3PT%, and 26th in FT%.

Our prediction for Friday, January 28th is….  Grizzlies 120 - Jazz 99

Seriously, I can’t stress this enough.  You get a real close spread -2.5 to -3 and the Jazz are missing their best offensive player AND their best defensive player… both of which are NBA all-stars.  They go up against a Grizzlies team with everything to play for and Ja Morant is on a Sportscenter highlight reel roll!!  Make the bet… get that money and come back to BigAl.com for more fun.  My vacation home is getting skylights from this one!

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NBA Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to

join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this Jazz/Grizzlies Preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.  Get help with all your college football picks, National Football league, NCAA brackets, or any prop bets on your season schedule. 

Utah is 3-2 ATS versus Memphis in Memphis over the last 3 seasons.

Utah is 8-5 ATS versus Memphis the last 3 seasons.

10 of 13 seasons have gone OVER the last 3 seasons.

Jazz: C Rudy Gobert (calf) Out ** SG Donovan Mitchell (concussion) Out

Grizzlies:  SF Kyle Anderson (illness) Out ** PG Tyus Jones (ill) Out ** SG Dillon Brooks (ankle) Out 

Jazz: PF Royce O’Neale, SF Bojan Bogdanovic, C Hassan Whiteside, SG Joe Ingles, PG Mike Conley

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

Jazz

Points: Donovan Mitchell 25.5

Assists: Mike Conley 5.3

Rebounds: Rudy Gobert 15.1

Steals: Donovan Mitchell 1.6

Blocks: Rudy Gobert  2.3

Grizzlies

Points: Ja Morant 25.8

Assists: Ja Morant 6.9

Rebounds: Steven Adams 9.3

Steals: De’Anthony Melton 1.6

Blocks: Jaren Jackson Jr 2.2

Jazz: Quin Snyder.  Coach Snyder has been with the Jazz since 2014.  Quietly he has been one of the best coaches in the NBA.  He has grown a strong winning culture and stays competitive even though the squad doesn’t attract a lot of free agent interest.

Grizzlies: Taylor Jenkins.  Coach Jenkins inherited the best young point guard in the league when he took the job in 2019.  His future is bright if he keeps growing along with the job.  If he suffers a downfall it would be that of the team looking for the bigtime coach to put this group over the top.  If the Grizzlies hit on even one more draft pick?... This is a perennial contender for the Championship.  Stay the course coach.