Hoops fans are thriving right now with plentiful options across the sport’s landscape to tune into tonight. It’s not the featured matchup on tonight’s NBA slate by any means, but the Boston Celtics are headed to Memphis for a battle against the Grizzlies. While far from a premier contest with one side contending and the other only just entering a rebuild, there’s betting value here nonetheless!
Here’s a Celtics vs. Grizzlies prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Friday’s contest.
Celtics vs. Grizzlies prediction, preview
Boston Celtics
There are plenty of positives to write about the Celtics, who are 46-23 overall and riding a three-game winning streak into tonight’s matchup. They’re 7-3 across the last 10 games and have a real chance to surpass the Detroit Pistons for the top spot in the Eastern Conference at four games back given the injury that’s expected to sideline Cade Cunningham for a little while.
Boston is excellent just about everywhere. The team sits second in NETRTG at +7.8 and drags the tempo at dead last in pace. The Celtics average only 114.4 PPG but are second in OFFRTG. They shoot 46.5% overall and 36.2% from deep, the latter of which is second best in the league, knocking down the third-most threes with the third-most attempts as well. Despite the perimeter-oriented focus, they’re fourth in rebounding with 46.3 boards per game as well. This team truly excels on defense though, ranking first in PPG allowed (107.0) and fourth in DEFRTG in turn. Opponents have the third-worst eFG% when facing Boston.
Jaylen Brown’s 28.5 points per game are a team-best mark and he adds 7.0 rebounds with 5.1 assists in the process. Jayson Tatum averages 20.7 points with 8.5 boards and 4.0 dimes though, and his shooting splits are slowly ticking upward since making his return from a torn Achilles. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard bring near-identical numbers with around 17 points and a hair over five assists each, and Neemias Queta plays his role nicely at center with 9.9 points and 8.3 boards. Nikola Vucevic is the only notable injury absence.
Memphis Grizzlies
Finding positives for this Grizzlies squad feels nearly impossible unless we’re counting draft picks, but the good news is that the franchise hit the reset button to begin with. They’re only 24-44 on the campaign at 11th in the Western Conference, but a pathway to high lottery odds is clear.
The Grizz are 21st in NETRTG at -2.9 while sitting sixth in pace. They average 115.7 PPG, shooting 46.0% overall and 35.5% from deep. They also average 28.5 assists per game with a respectable AST/TO ratio of 1.884. However, an extensive injury report could spell trouble for that part of the unit. On defense, Memphis gives up 118.6 PPG and sits 20th in DEFRTG. The team is also 17th in rebounding on the campaign with 43.5 boards per game.
To get the injury report out of the way — Santi Aldama, Scotty Pippen Jr., Brandon Clarke and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are all out alongside longer-term injuries to Ja Morant and Zach Edey. GG Jackson and Taj Gibson are also doubtful tonight, and Cedric Coward is questionable. That leaves Jalen Wells as the team’s leading scorer with 12.8 PPG, with Cam Spencer (11.4 PTS, 5.4 AST) and Taylor Hendricks (11.3 PTS, 4.8 REB) as key contributors. When those guys are your headlining players, you may have issues.
Celtics vs. Grizzlies pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Celtics as -14.5 road favorites tonight with -1200 odds on the Moneyline. The Grizzlies are listed at +750 odds on the ML with the game total set at 232.5 combined points.
Boston tends to destroy bad teams, and this Memphis squad is no exception. The C’s have wins of 21 points against the injured Warriors, 20 points against the Mavericks, and 27 points over the Bucks all in March alone… though they fell short with an 11-point victory over the Wizards as well. However, there’s another trend to note if you’re concerned about a spread pick. The Celtics haven’t scored 125 points in a game since dropping 148 back on February 27. Going back further, their last 125-point performance came on January 23 with 130 in overtime against the Nets. Their team total for tonight sits at 124.5, so do with that information what you will. I’ll be going with the under on that line given the track record and pace of play, even against a bad team.
Top pick: BOS Celtics under 124.5 (-115)
