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Houston Rockets vs. Memphis Grizzlies Friday NBA Preview & Free Pick

Rockets vs Grizzlies NBA Handicapping

Are the Memphis Grizzlies the most ignored good team in the NBA? The Grizz this season are on a pace to win 54 games, and to put that in perspective, if a major league baseball team won at the same pace, it would finish the season with 107 wins.

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Houston Rockets (39-32) at Memphis Grizzlies (47-24)
Friday, March 29
FedExForum, Memphis
8 p.m. EST
Spread – Grizzlies -5 at Bovada
Total – 196

Matchup | Preview

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And they’ve done it by surviving the mid-season trade of Rudy Gay, their best offensive player.

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The NBA is a rich/poor league, and the Grizz are just one of several good-but-not-great teams that are capable of winning a playoff series (maybe two) before getting knocked off the rails by the Spurs or Thunder in the Western Conference semis or finals. That’s the way the NBA works, and everyone seems to accept it.

Still, Memphis is a long way from where it was just a few seasons ago, and tonight the Grizzlies can tighten the race for a high WC playoff seed by taking care of the Houston Rockets at home.

Memphis currently resides in the 5th spot in the West, which is not that comfortable considering the No. 5 seed might have to take on white-hot Denver in first round. Since Denver is unbeatable at home and the Nuggets have only three road games the rest of the way, Memphis has its sights set on the Clippers (currently No. 3). [ad-6571516]

Overtaking the Clippers would require not having any blips at home, starting tonight. And the Grizz have been taking care of business at the FedEx Forum – they’ve got 10 straight FedEx wins in their bag, and it’s been a few seasons since the Rockets have been able to win there. Memphis’s last home loss was in early February, so the Grizz are holding serve pretty well.

It would help if the Grizzlies are at full strength tonight, but the front line is still depleted while Marc Gasol recovers from an abdominal tar. “If I can play, I will play,” Gasol said yesterday.

OK.

Houston has some motivation in this one, too. The Rockets, coming off a loss to Indiana on Wednesday, would love to track down Golden State for the No. 6 playoff seed and avoid Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the first round.

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The Rockets are on pace to break the all-time NBA record for 3-pointers made in a season, but like most teams they shoot the long ball much better at home than on the road. Houston is 14-21 on the road this season, and has won only 5 times (5-15) away from home against Western Conference teams.

Signs here point toward a Memphis cover.

By Lawrence Paul

Lawrence Paul is back in the saddle as a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog. He's got an AMAZING knack for predicting when a team will have a letdown! Stick with our resident gambling experts sports betting tips all season long!