NBA Pick #3: 519 Memphis Grizzlies @ 520 Utah Jazz
Rating: 2 Units – Regular Play
Pick: 519 Over 228.5
Price: -110 / 1.91 on Circa Sports
Write Up:
The Grizzlies arrive to this new season with the goal of having a good season but with a renewed style, as they want to play as fast as they can:
Coach Jenkins admits that the emphasis on pace is asking a lot of his players. But then again, “speed’s the name of the game right now,” he said.
“Obviously playing with Ja, you play super fast,” Aldama said. “Now that they’re emphasizing pace and we got Ja and we got Des (Bane), we’re going to have to move way faster. It’s going to take some adjustments.”
This particular matchup against the Jazz presents the scenario for a pure shootout as both teams will be focused to go out and score in transition as they have scoring guards that will attack the rim.
While we can expect Utah to be a bad defensive team at protecting the paint as no NBA team allowed more points in the paint during the preseason than the Jazz, Memphis will also come to this game without Jaren Jackson Jr and Vince Williams, their two best defensive players. Therefore, Memphis will have to rely on a rookie Center to protect the paint and JJJ’s absence will be felt as he would be the player who would attempt to limit Utah’s star player, Lauri Markkanen.