PREMIUM
**$20 Tuesday!** Rogers' 10* TOP TOTALS TICKET
(NBA) Memphis vs. San Antonio,
Total: 186.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Win
Total: 186.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Win
The set-up: The Spurs completely shut down the Grizzlies in Games 1 and 2 of this series, holding Memphis to exactly 82 points in each of those first two games, winning by margins of 29 and 14 points. However, the Grizzlies returned home knowing it had beaten the Spurs in both games this past season played in Memphis. The Spurs looked lethargic in a Game 3 Memphis win and then the teams played an excellent Game 4, with the Grizzlies edging the Spurs 110-108 in OT. Kawhi Leonard scored the Spurs' final 16 points in regulation to force overtime (had 43 points, overall) but Memphis center Marc Gasol buried the game-winner in the final second.
Memphis: Gasol made the game winner but it was PG Mike Conley who went toe-to-toe with Leonard in keeping the Grizzlies in the game. Conley set a franchise postseason record with 35 points in the Game 4 triumph and is averaging 24 points and 7.8 assists in the series. Don't dismiss Gasol though, as added 37 points and 18 rebounds in the two Memphis wins or the play of Randolph, inserted in the starting lineup for Games 3 and 4, while scoring 33 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. However, depth is an issue for Memphis, as the 40-year-old Vince Carter is the team's fourth-leading scorer at just 8.3 PPG in this series.
San Antonio: Some think that Leonard, not Westbrook or Harden, is the league MVP and he's surely made a strong case for that honor in this series. It's not just that he set a career playoff-high 43 points in Game 4 but that it was the third time in the series that he had either matched or exceeded a previous personal best. Tony Parker, who looked washed up for most of the regular season, added 22 points in Game 4, two nights after he didn't score and wasn't credited with an assist in San Antonio's Game 3 loss. Leonard doesn't get enough credit for basically carrying this team, which is not the same multi-talented group of past San Antonio editions.
The pick: The first two games of the series went under and then the last two went over. With the series returning to San Antonio one could conclude we are back on the under 'train' but it's my belief that the Grizzlies "found themselves" in these last two games and will not be an 82-point team in Game 5. The total is again very low and the Over is a 10* play.
Memphis: Gasol made the game winner but it was PG Mike Conley who went toe-to-toe with Leonard in keeping the Grizzlies in the game. Conley set a franchise postseason record with 35 points in the Game 4 triumph and is averaging 24 points and 7.8 assists in the series. Don't dismiss Gasol though, as added 37 points and 18 rebounds in the two Memphis wins or the play of Randolph, inserted in the starting lineup for Games 3 and 4, while scoring 33 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. However, depth is an issue for Memphis, as the 40-year-old Vince Carter is the team's fourth-leading scorer at just 8.3 PPG in this series.
San Antonio: Some think that Leonard, not Westbrook or Harden, is the league MVP and he's surely made a strong case for that honor in this series. It's not just that he set a career playoff-high 43 points in Game 4 but that it was the third time in the series that he had either matched or exceeded a previous personal best. Tony Parker, who looked washed up for most of the regular season, added 22 points in Game 4, two nights after he didn't score and wasn't credited with an assist in San Antonio's Game 3 loss. Leonard doesn't get enough credit for basically carrying this team, which is not the same multi-talented group of past San Antonio editions.
The pick: The first two games of the series went under and then the last two went over. With the series returning to San Antonio one could conclude we are back on the under 'train' but it's my belief that the Grizzlies "found themselves" in these last two games and will not be an 82-point team in Game 5. The total is again very low and the Over is a 10* play.
