NBA 2022/23, on Tuesday, 04/25/2023
What an exciting series is just unfolding in the NBA Playoffs between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies! LAL must now win their next home game at all costs before the action shifts back to Tennessee.
Meanwhile, I will place my Grizzlies Lakers tip in combination with the great Bet365 betting bonus.
The bottom line of my Grizzlies Lakers prediction here is in a nutshell: when “the cat” sits on the bench, the Grizz mice dance in the half court of the purple and gold!
I actually didn’t expect the Series between these two franchises to be this exciting.
After all, the Grizzlies came within a hair’s breadth of finishing second in the Western Conference battle, while the Lakers once again only made the playoffs via a play-in-tournament detour.
At the moment, the Californians are 2-1 up after the games, but it’s going to be close until the end. The reasons for this and my forecast for Game 4 I have analyzed in my Lakers Grizzlies tip in detail.
Let’s start with what makes the Lakers stand out right now: A surprisingly strong Rui Hachimura, who was simply outstanding off the bench in the first two games against the Grizz, scoring 29 and 20 points respectively.
In doing so, Hachimura became the first LAL bench player since Magic Johnson in 1996 to score 20 or more points in each of two consecutive playoff games for the Californians. The Grizzlies were not expecting that!
Add to that the fact that Anthony Davis plays excellent defense and thus deprives The Grizz of their best weapon: scoring from mid-range. However, “AD” is unfortunately not a Duracell bunny.
With this remark I allude to the fact that the Lakers’ defensive machine has to go to the bench sometimes – and whenever this is the case, his team falls behind pretty quickly.
One very interesting statistic from Game 1 & 2: In those two games, the Lakers scored 23 more points than the Grizzlies when Davis was on the floor, but trailed by -17 in the 22 minutes when “The Brow” was on the bench.
Los Angeles simply doesn’t have the players to consistently hold the Grizzlies harmless. That problem should only become more prominent now that Ja Morant has recovered from his hand injury on the opposite side.
Another problem for the purple and gold concerns their offense. For here, LeBron James is largely on his own.
Dennis Schröder and D’Angelo Russell desperately need to improve to take more pressure off the NBA icon moving forward, otherwise it won’t work.
However, I honestly see black on this point as well. Because except for Rui Hachimura, no LAL player currently stands out in scoring in any way.
Anthony Davis is playing average at best – even though he came on strong in Game 3 – while there is still too little coming from the guard positions.
One thing that will certainly play into the Lakers’ cards is home-court advantage, which even sports bettors seem to have respect for.
Although the guests from Memphis in their current Lakers Grizzlies odds continue to go into this race as underdogs, but with an average of 2.65 beckons for a MEM victory at least a pretty decent payout!
For a LAL home win, meanwhile, betting odds are offered that promise a payout of around 1.5 times the stake.
Not a bad basis for Lakers fans, after all, their boys have already won 6 of their last 7 home games against the Grizzlies. However, I will still refrain from doing so.
Conclusion: In the first two games, Anthony Davis blocked 12 shot attempts alone, but I expect the Grizz to sail away in minutes with The Brow on the bench.
Especially since now with a rested and recovered Ja Morant – who at 23 can also be on the floor for longer periods of time – there is a whole different dynamic to the Grizzlies’ offensive game.
The Lakers will still hold up well, but I expect Memphis to pull away “in spurts” – and always in the moments when Anthony Davis is not defending his own half-court.
My Lakers Grizzlies tip: MEM evens the series!
