DR BOB SPORTS
Strong Opinion on Memphis and a lean on the Under.
Strong Opinion
MEMPHIS (-1 ½) over Oklahoma City
06:05 PM Pacific - Rotation 748
Memphis let me down as a Best Bet for the first time in their 72-99 game 5 loss at Oklahoma City, but the Grizzlies are still 24-7 ATS after a loss with Zach Randolph in the lineup since late November, including 11-1 ATS after consecutive losses. The Grizz are also 18-3 ATS with Randolph against teams off consecutive wins and they’re 21-7 ATS this season in same season revenge games (4-0 ATS with double-revenge), including 16-1 ATS against teams with a win percentage of .570 or higher. Memphis looked horrible in losing by 27 points in game 5 but teams that lose by 20 points or more in a playoff road game are 91-52-1 ATS in their next game and the Grizzlies apply to a 49-19 ATS subset of that situation. Memphis is also 16-2 ATS at home when not favored by 4 points or more and the Grizzlies haven’t lost 3 consecutive games since before Christmas. My ratings favor Memphis by 1 point, so the line is pretty fair, and I’ll consider Memphis a Strong Opinion at -2 or less.
Opinion
Under (195 ½) – Oklahoma City at MEMPHIS
06:05 PM Pacific - Rotation 748
After the first two games were higher scoring than expected, the last 3 games in this series have been relatively low scoring. Game 3 went under despite going into overtime, game 4 was under by 6 points before going over in overtime (96-96 at the end of regulation), and game 5 totaled just 171 total points. My math model projects 193 ½ points using games since the All-Star break (both teams had important trades right after the break) and using the average pace per 48 minutes of the first 5 games in this series along with expected scoring efficiencies of each team would also result in a predicted total of 193 ½ points. I’ll lean Under 195 points or higher.