The Boston Celtics are traveling to Memphis to battle the red-hot grizzlies who are 4-0 at home while the Celtics are looking to win their 3rd straight game. The Celtics are coming off a Finals appearance while the Grizzlies are coming off a surprising 50-win season.
Protect The Cribskii
The Grizzlies look like they have found their groove after coming off a big win in Memphis improving to 7-3 and being atop the SouthWest division. Memphis has now won three games in a row after losing two straight to the Utah Jazz in last week's back-to-back matchups in Utah. The grizzlies have a bit less depth with Triple J being out, Danny Green is out and so is Zaire Williams will be out again also keep a eye out for Steven Adams as he left yesterday's game with an ankle injury but did return. On Sunday night Ja had 23 points 6 assists and nine rebounds in a 103-97 victory over the Wizards in Memphis. However, Desmond Bane lead the team in scoring last night with 28 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists as he continues to play at the All-Star level next to Ja Morant. Memphis is second to Boston in points scored per game this season with just over 118 points themselves. They are 11th in Feild Goal percentage and an impressive 3rd in 3-point percentages. They are not efficient with the ball though ranking 23rd in turnover-to-assist ratio. This will be the second game of a back-to-back for the Grizzlies.
Luck of the Irish
The 2022-23 Boston Celtics have yet to show off the defensive tenacity they had last year and it was essentially their backbone. Part of that is probably the coaching change upon the suspension of Ime Udoka for the season and one of their all defensive payer Robert Willams is still hurt. In the meantime, they have been picking it up with their superb shooting and the continued growth of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. On Saturday night, in the second game, Brown scored 30 points, and Tatum had 27 in a 113-118 road win against the New York Knicks. In that game, Boston set a franchise record of 27 3-pointers in one game with that they lead the point total with over 118. With their road win, they improve to 3-2 on the road and come into Memphis on a two-game win streak. The Celtics are 6th overall in field goal percentage so far and 5th in three-point percentage. Boston is 27th in rebounding as they are missing Rob Will and Luke Kornet for today's game. The team is 9th in the assist/turnover ratio which may speak of the presence of Malcolm Brogdon.
Personal Opinion
In this road game, the Celtics are surprisingly underdogs which is probably because the Grizzlies are playing back-to-back. While the Grizzlies backcourt can give the Celtics backcourt problems the forward position is where the mismatch is at with Memphis only having Brooks and Aldama the Celtics have Tatum and Brown.
Game Prediction: Mem: 118 Bos: 113
Game MVP: JA Morant
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