Lakers vs. Grizzlies Odds

The Lakers and the Grizzlies run it back in Memphis after the Lakers beat the Grizzlies, 108-94, on Sunday. The Lakers covered the double-digit spread and cashed on the under. Can we expect more of the same just two days later, or can the Grizzlies fight back without Ja Morant?

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are listing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as questionable for this game. He missed the last game due to a sprained left ankle, but he practiced as recently as Monday, and although he's not 100%, he's hopeful to play.

LeBron James continues to be listed as questionable with an ankle injury as well, but he has yet to miss a game.

If you want to check either's injury status before placing a bet, you can always use our Fantasy Labs Insiders Tool.

For more analysis on the impact Caldwell-Pope has on this Lakers team, check out my guide for Sunday's game in which I discussed his contributions in depth.

The Lakers did not start off nearly as hot without Caldwell-Pope and did not dominate this matchup until LeBron poured in the Laker's first 10 points of the fourth quarter. In fact, the Grizzlies won the first quarter and were only down by two after three quarters before ultimately losing by 14.

So, what happened? The Lakers adjusted to missing Caldwell-Pope and figured out the Grizzlies. The game was slow, and the Grizzlies mustered only 92 points in 94 possessions.

The Lakers were smothering defensively after the first quarter and limited an already poor shooting Grizzlies team to just a 46.2% effective field goal percentage, per Cleaning the Glass.

Memphis Grizzlies

One glimmer of hope for this Grizzlies squad is its young players stepped up and had meaningful contributions in Sunday's game.

Desmond Bane and Xavier Tillman combined for 19 points on just 11 shot attempts. Bane has seen a clear uptick in usage since Morant went down with his injury and he has now scored in double figures in consecutive games, while his usage has risen to over 16% in the last two games compared to about 11% in the prior to games, per Cleaning the Glass.

Tillman saw his first NBA action on Sunday, and in what's already shaping up to be a rough season for the Grizzlies, he should get some run as they see what their second-round pick has in store for the future.

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Lakers-Grizzlies Pick

One of the major problems the Grizzlies have had this season is struggling in transition. They struggle to create transition opportunities for themselves — they do so on only 12.9% of possessions (26th in the league) — and although they do a decent job of limiting transition opportunities, they give up 130 points per 100 transition plays (23rd), per Cleaning the Glass.

This is an issue because the Grizzlies offense spends 81.6% of its possessions in its half-court offense. As of Monday night, Memphis is dead last in half-court points per 100 plays (85.6), per Cleaning the Glass.

This is brutal when teams play the Lakers. Los Angeles owns the ninth-best half-court defense and only give up 91.3 points per 100 plays. It dominates the glass and limits second-chance opportunities for its opponent.

We clearly saw this play out on Sunday. The Grizzlies scored just 75.6 points/100 in the half-court, and they only played in transition on 9.6% of their possessions.

The Lakers have Caldwell-Pope waiting in the wings, but even if he's held out, the Grizzlies have no reinforcements coming.

The Lakers take care of business against bad teams. Over the past two seasons, they are 11-5-1 ATS when playing a team that is below .500 with a spread is 10 points or fewer.

I'm backing the Lakers to take care of business again, and I also lean the under, but I don't like that the bookmakers have moved the line from last game's open of 222.5 to 218 for this game.

Pick: Lakers -9.5