At first glance you wonder why the oddsmaker opened Portland a small home favorite. After all, Memphis has won five in a row and the Trail Blazers are minus two of their three best players with Jusuf Nurkic and CJ McCollum both out.
But at closer inspection you see this game sets up well for the Trail Blazers. 
Not to take anything away from the Grizzlies, but they've caught a number of situational breaks in winning their last four games. Their last four victories were against the Cavaliers, who were missing their starting backcourt, the 3-9 Timberwolves, the 76ers when they were minus Joel Embiid and the rusty Suns, who were playing for the first time in a week. 
The Trail Blazers are going to be motivated for this contest after an embarrassing, 125-104, home loss to the Spurs on Monday. That defeat gave the Trail Blazers the full realization that no team is taking pity on them for Nurkic and McCollum being out. Those two are going to be out for weeks. So I expect the Trail Blazers to start digging in, especially at home. Damian Lillard is playing at the high level expected of him. Shooting guards Rodney Hood and Gary Trent Jr. are decent replacements for McCollum. 
Note, too, the Grizzlies are going to be missing a key player, Jonas Valanciunas. He's their best big man. The Grizzlies don't have much inside scoring without him. Valanciunas is out due to COVID-19 protocols.