Suns vs. Grizzlies Odds, Pick, Prediction: Memphis Can Take Advantage of Phoenix’s Injuries (December 27)

Suns vs. Grizzlies Odds

The Phoenix Suns will continue their six-game road trip on Tuesday night with a stop in Memphis to take on the Grizzlies.

Phoenix has not looked very sharp as of late, but still enters this matchup as one the top seeds in the Western Conference with a record of 19-15. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have played solid basketball in the month of December and enter this game with an overall record of 20-12.

The last time we saw these teams play was on Christmas Day, games in which both the Suns and Grizzlies lost. Will returning to their home court be what gets Memphis back in the win column, or will the Suns start to turn things around and get a win on the road?

Phoenix Suns

After a very hot start to the season, the Suns have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games and can't seem to figure much out on either end of the floor.

Much of their failures have come on the defensive end of the floor. Before the calendar flipped to December, the Suns owned a Defensive Rating of 109.1, which ranked sixth in the NBA. However, in the month of December that rating has soared to 117.1 and ranks 26th in the NBA.

A big reason why we have seen such a significant rise in their Defensive Rating is because the injury bug has made its way around the Phoenix locker room. Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul, Cam Johnson and Cam Payne have all missed some time this month, and now Devin Booker is expected to miss more time after tweaking his groin injury on Christmas Day against the Nuggets.

All of those bodies being sidelined has been disastrous for the Suns, and they have also been affected on the offensive end of the floor because of it. In the month of December the Suns rank 22nd in the NBA in field goal percentage at 45.8%, with most of their struggles coming from 5-9 feet away from the basket where they are shooting just 36.7% as a team this month.

The inconsistency in regard to their lineup from injuries is clearly what is causing the Suns to go into this downward spiral, and reversing that trend against the Grizzlies is going to be a tough task.

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Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies suffered a bad loss to the Warriors on Christmas Day, but that game isn't the most accurate reflection of how well this team has played this month.

The Grizzlies own the No. 1 Defensive Rating in December at 103.3, which is more than four points better than the Knicks in second and a big improvement from their season rating of 109.2.

That much of an improvement has come as a direct result of Memphis' ability to defend the interior. TeamRankings has the Grizzlies ranked third in Opponent Points per Game in the Paint with 45.9, and in their last three games alone that average has fallen to 39.3.

Additionally, the Grizzlies are holding their opponents to shooting just 55.3% while less than five feet from the basket, and 22.7% while 5-9 feet from the basket in the month of December. Both of those marks rank inside the top two, showing that the duo of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Steven Adams are making life very difficult for anyone who chooses to challenge them.

Suns-Grizzlies Pick

Only one of these teams is going to be able to avenge their Christmas Day loss, and I am much more confident that Memphis will be the team to do so.

We saw the Suns and Grizzlies face each other just a few days ago on December 23rd. That game had a lot of similarities in regard to the Suns' injuries, as Booker, Johnson and Payne were all sidelined in what turned out to be a 125-100 victory for Memphis.

Landry Shamet has been the guy to step up on the perimeter in the absence of those guys, but he will miss this game as well after suffering an Achilles' injury against Denver. That only makes the Suns' offensive outlook even more bleak in this matchup, and I think a fully healthy Grizzlies squad that has played much better basketball is more than capable of taking advantage of those injuries for the second time in less than a week.

I like Memphis to cover the spread in this spot, and I would play it to 8.

Pick: Grizzlies -8 or Better

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