Memphis vs. OKC Online Betting Odds
The Grizzlies have the best record in the league since Marc Gasol’s return from injury, but in Round 1 the Grizz run up against one of the NBA’s elite teams, thanks to all-world superstar Kevin Durant.[ad-4468020]
Odds to Win the NBA Title:
Memphis: 66/1
Oklahoma City: 9/2
Series Odds: Grizzlies +400 // Thunder -500
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Memphis had a gritty series with Oklahoma City last year that went five games, with the Grizzlies coming up short because of their inability to score. The seven-seed Grizz average just 98.6 points per 100 possessions against the two-seed Thunder, a mark that ranks 29th overall in the league.
That won’t get it done against Durant and Russell Westbrook.
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Even though the Thunder franchise inexplicably dealt away star James Harden (there was a chance for a really ensconced dynasty with those three staying together in OKC, on par with a Miami Heat-style mega-team) the team is still super potent with Durant and a healthy Westbrook operating.
With just Durant around as the primary threat, Memphis could overload its defense over to him, ignoring bit players like Kendrick Perkins or Thabo Sefolosha. However, with Westbrook back this tactic becomes less feasible.
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The two stars could run a pick-and-roll game not unlike what Karl Malone and John Stockton used to do on the Utah Jazz, to really attack and punish the Memphis defenders.
Memphis is playing great basketball right now, so the Thunder better not discount them. The key for Memphis though, will be the play of Gasol.
In previous meetings, Pau’s little bro has shown the ability to dominate offensively. Gasol will likely have Serge Ibaka guarding him, because big man Zach Randolph has turned Ibaka into hamburger in earlier match-ups. If Gasol can dominate Ibaka in a similar way, it will do wonders for the Grizzlies’ offense and their chances in the series.
The major weakness that OKC shows defensively – aside from Ibaka-on-Randolph – is guarding the three-point shot. This doesn’t help Memphis, though, as the Grizzlies are one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA. Some of Memphis’s A1 defenders like Tony Allen and Tayshawn Prince, who will likely be on the court due to OKC’s weapons, are lousy shooters beyond the arc.
Durant has put up eye-prodruding numbers while maintaining a scoring efficiency you wouldn’t think possible (always hovering right around the 50-40-90 mark – 50% from the field, 40% from downtown and 90% from the charity stripe).
He’s done this while singularly putting the team on his back in Westbrook’s absence. This should be a year that KD grabs the MVP trophy from LeBron James.
To use a legendary comparison, if KD and Westbrook are like Jordan and Scottie Pippen from the 1990s Bulls, they need that third player – a “Steve Kerr” or “Horace Grant” type (Sefolosha, Ibaka, we’re looking your way) – to take some of the heat of all the defensive focus on the stars.
NBA Playoff Prediction: Oklahoma City in six games
If a third player on the Thunder can get the ball wide open and score with any regularity, the Grizz are done and dusted. Due to all the help defense on Durant and Westbrook, there will be one or two players on the floor for OKC that will be wide open.
This series shouldn’t be an easy battle because of how dialled in the Grizzlies have been lately, but unless Gasol can utterly dominate the athletic Ibaka and Memphis can find some measure of defensive success against the Deadly Duo, Oklahoma City should eventually take this series.
