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The Memphis Grizzlies travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers tonight at 7 PM ET on ESPN. This is the first meeting between these two squads in what should be a tightly contested affair. The Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference with a 46-10 record, but Memphis has been impressive in the Western Conference too, as they currently own the #2 seed with a 37-19 mark.
Both teams will want to pick up a big win in what could be a preview of the NBA Finals, so let’s get into my Grizzlies @ Cavaliers NBA prediction.
The Grizzlies have been one of the bigger surprises this year, as they were expected to be a playoff team, but it’s safe to say that not many analysts had them finishing near the top of the West. They’re led by the trio of Jared Jackson Jr. (22.8 PPG), Ja Morant (20.5 PPG) and Desmond Bane (18.2 PPG) but have also gotten contributions from rookie Zach Edey (7.6 REB per game – leads the team), PF Santi Aldama (12.7 PPG & 6.8 REB) and F Jaylen Wells (11.2 PPG).
This Memphis squad is extremely young and will compete in the West for years to come. They limped out of the All-Star break with a 127-113 road defeat against the Indiana Pacers but responded with a 105-104 road victory against the Orlando Magic on the second night of a back-to-back. Today’s game marks the final game of a five-game road trip that began before the All-Star break, and they’ll have five home contests in a row after today, so I expect them to put up a fight against the Eastern Conference leaders. The only thing I’m concerned about is the fact that Memphis carries a 16-13 record away from home while the Cavaliers are 26-4 in front of their home fans.
The Cavaliers enter today’s matchup amid a six-game winning streak, and Cleveland has won 10 of their previous 11 contests. Their loan defeat came on the road against the Boston Celtics, showing how they’ve been able to take care of business during February. After today, the Cavs will play just two of their next seven games at home, so I expect them to put on a show for their home faithful at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Cleveland is led by Donovan Mitchell (24.0 PPG and 1.4 STL), Darius Garland (21.3 PPG and 6.7 AST) and Evan Mobley (18.6 PPG and 9.2 REB), but Jarrett Allen (13.6 PPG and 10.4 REB) and newly-acquired DeAndre Hunter (13.8 PPG) fill out the starting five. This team should make a deep playoff run and showed their ambition by trading for Hunter at the deadline. They have the talent and depth to win big today, especially after dominating the New York Knicks 142-105 two nights ago at home.
As I said, this is the first meeting between these two squads, and the Cavaliers match up extremely well with the Grizzlies. The biggest worry for the home squad is whether Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen will play today, as they’re game-time decisions. However, reports indicate they’ll likely suit up, so I expect the hosts to be at full strength.
These teams are tied for first in the league in scoring at 122.8 PPG, so I expect there will be plenty of points. Therefore, I’m going to back the Cavs leader, Donovan Mitchell to have an efficient scoring day. Mitchell has 26 and 27 points in Cleveland’s two games since the All-Star break and has scored 25+ points in 9 of the Cavaliers’ last 15 games. Additionally, the Grizzlies don’t have anyone who will be able to challenge Mitchell on the defensive end and have struggled to slow down efficient SGs this season.
Zach LaVine (29.5 PPG in 2 games), CJ McCollum (28.0 PPG in 3 games), DeMar DeRozan (27.5 PPG in 2 games) and Malik Monk (27.0 PPG in 2 games) all had big games against Memphis this season, and I expect Mitchell to join that list today.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.