The Memphis Grizzlies could take over the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference with a win and a New Orleans Pelicans loss on Thursday night.
However, Memphis has a tough opponent in the way with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in town. The Bucks won’t have guard Jrue Holiday due to an illness in this matchup.
Memphis’ six-game winning streak has been impressive, especially since the team has been without Desmond Bane for a good chunk of the 2022-23 season.
The Grizz have moved to ninth in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating on the season, but Milwaukee ranks No. 1 in defensive rating.
With Holiday out, the Bucks’ defense could suffer, especially since Holiday would have been the primary option to guard Ja Morant.
This is probably the matchup of the night in the NBA, so why don’t we wager on this game?
Here’s a look at the latest odds and a pick for the Grizzlies-Bucks matchup:
Bucks vs. Grizzlies Odds, Spread and Total
Bucks vs. Grizzlies Prediction and Pick
The Bucks have gotten off to a hot start this season, but they may be a little overvalued in the betting market, especially without one of their best players in this game.
Milwaukee has played one of the easiest strength of schedules this season, which has certainly helped the team get out to a 20-7 start.
Updated Strength of Schedule with a new column that accounts for home court advantage. HCA is worth about 3.16 points/100 poss. This was added to each opponent rating for the game and then summed up. https://t.co/0bOF0BS1ov pic.twitter.com/DemoqEcR36
— Krishna Narsu (@knarsu3) December 8, 2022
If there’s one thing that the Grizzlies have done better than most teams this season, it’s win at home, where they are 12-2 straight up and 10-3-1 against the spread.
The Bucks have stumbled a bit on the road, going 7-4 straight up and 4-5-2 against the spread in the 2022-23 season.
Both of these teams are showing that they are NBA Finals contenders, but I think the Grizzlies have the advantage in this game.
Milwaukee’s offense (18th in offensive rating) hasn’t been great this season, and the team can’t seem to keep Khris Middleton, Holiday and Giannis all on the floor at the same time.
The Grizzlies have six straight home wins by eight or more points. I’m just going to take them on this short moneyline, but I don’t mind laying the points with Memphis either.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.