NBA Picks 3/11 – Dallas Mavericks @ Memphis Grizzlies

NBA Picks 3/11 – Dallas Mavericks @ Memphis Grizzlies

The Dallas Mavericks (34-33) go on the road to face the Memphis Grizzlies (39-26) tonight in a matchup of teams that were considered two of the elites in the Western Conference before the season started. Inconsistency, injuries and off the court issues appear to have damaged the championship hopes for both of these teams. Memphis is a 6-point favorite and the total is 224.

Tonight, is the second of four meetings, Dallas dominated the first one, 137-96, way back on October 22nd. These teams will meet again two days from now in Dallas, so this can be viewed as a mini playoff series as they jockey for playoff position in the West. Mavs superstar Luka Doncic will not play tonight due to a left thigh strain. Mavs guard Kyrie Irving is questionable tonight for personal reasons and/or right foot soreness. Memphis Grizzlies outspoken guard Dillon Brooks has promised to pick up Kyrie full-court if he does play! In their last game, Memphis snapped a 3-game losing streak by pounding heated rival Golden State, 131-110, on Thursday night. 

HOW DID BOTH TEAMS GET HERE

Last season the Dallas Mavericks went 52-30 and made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, knocking off the 64-win Phoenix Suns in 7 games along the way. This year, Dallas sits at 34-33 and already have three more losses than they had all of last year. During the summer, Dallas traded for Christian Wood and then allowed Jalen Brunson to sign with the New York Knicks as a free agent.

Wood has put up good numbers with Dallas but hasn’t necessarily gelled with Luka Doncic, while Brunson is having his best season as an NBA player with the resurgent Knicks. Trading for enigmatic, 8-time All-Star Kyrie Irving has also appeared to backfire for Dallas as they’ve gone 5-6 since acquiring him on February 6th. Kyrie has maintained his All-NBA form in his 11 games with Dallas, averaging 27.5 points, 6.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.  

The Memphis Grizzlies went 56-26 last year and advanced to the second round of the playoffs before falling to the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors in a volatile, hard-fought 6-game series. Despite already matching their loss total (26) from last year, Memphis is still tied for second in the west with Sacramento, they were also the 2 seed last year.

This season, Memphis has been hit hard with injuries, second-leading scorer Desmond Bane (21.2ppg) has missed 22 games, All-Star forward/ NBA’s blocked shots leader Jaren Jackson Jr. has missed 17, starting center Steven Adams (11.5rpg) has missed 23 and back-up post man Brandon Clarke recently suffered a season-ending injury. 

The worst fate for the Memphis Grizzlies this year involves the off the court issues surrounding superstar guard Ja Morant. He is currently on an indefinite suspension for an Instagram video where he recorded himself flashing a gun in a strip club hours after a March 3rd loss at Denver! Before this incident, there were reports of Ja Morant having multiple run-ins with people involving guns. No one seems to know when Ja Morant will be cleared to play again, it’s possible we may not see him again this season.  

A huge positive for Memphis is the play of Ja Morant’s back up Tyus Jones, he’s started the last three games in Ja’s absence and is averaging 21 points, 8.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game. For the season, Jones is averaging 19.1pts, 7.6asts and 3.5rebs in all 11 games Ja Morant has missed this year. 

THE PICK

Whether Kyrie plays or not, I think Memphis wins this one easily…Lay The 6!