NBA Betting: San Antonio Spurs at Memphis Grizzlies

Added on Mar 01, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

NBA Western Conference matchup on tap for Tuesday night as the San Antonio Spurs travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzles. Spurs still have the best record in the NBA but will be without pointguard Tony Parker for several weeks. Memphis has been playing exceptionally good basketball lately and is currently holding on to the 8th and final playoff spot in the West.

San Antonio Spurs at Memphis Grizzlies
March 1, 2011 5:05 PM Pacific

We’ve got as much respect as anyone for the improvement in this Grizzlies team, but we’re scratching our heads over the price on this game. Tony Parker is out and he’s a very important component in the Spurs’ success, but even factoring that into the pointspread it’s hard to justify a 10.5 point swing from the previous meeting between the teams which was just two days ago in San Antonio. Spurs were a 9 point home favorite and won by 7–Memphis covered the game but we’re not sure the change of venue will change the result. In theory, playing on the team that lost the first game of a ‘quick rematch’ series like this is a sound concept but it’s a lot more effective when it results in a play against a team that isn’t as good on the road as San Antonio. The Spurs are 21-8 SU/19-9-1 ATS away from home. They’re also 7-2 ATS as a road underdog of 3 or less.

Memphis is an excellent team in ‘revenge’ spots–20-14 SU/23-10-1 ATS this season. They’ve also played solid basketball against opponents with winning records going 19-9 ATS. San Antonio has dominated this series in head to head play in recent years going 8-2 SU. The ATS tally is even at 5-5 but at this price all the Spurs need to do is win the game outright. They’ve won 3 of the L4 games played at Memphis. We see the same tendency over and over again in every sport when good teams have to replace a key player on a short term basis–they rise to the occasion with other players picking up the slack until his return. The public–and linesmakers–overvalue the impact of the loss so playing on the team with the injury becomes a good value. The dynamics are different in the case of a long term injury but that’s not the case with Parker. Spurs win outright and cash our ticket.

Bet San Antonio Spurs +1′ over Memphis Grizzles