Indiana Pacers vs. Memphis Grizzlies Prediction: Targeting Ja Morant on Thursday Night
The Indiana Pacers travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies tonight. Hollywood Picks is here with his Indiana Pacers vs. Memphis Grizzlies prediction. He's targeting Ja Morant on Thursday night.
Hollywood Picks - December 21, 2023, 12:26 PM EST
5 minIndiana Pacers vs. Memphis Grizzlies Prediction: Targeting Ja Morant on Thursday Night
The Indiana Pacers travel to Memphis tonight to take on the Grizzlies. And luckily for Memphis, their star player, Ja Morant, is back. Morant's first game back was on Tuesday, and he dropped an outstanding 34 points. The Pacers are one of the fastest paced teams in the NBA, so I believe it will be a high scoring game which should be perfect for Ja Morant to score the rock.
Pacers vs. Grizzlies Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: December 21, 2023
- Game Time: 8:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: NBA League Pass
Indiana Pacers vs. Memphis Grizzlies Prediction
This one may seem a little complicated because Ja has only played one game this season, but this is a fantastic matchup for him to feast. On the season, Morant has dropped 34 points. This is more of a matchup play for me here tonight.
As we know, the Pacers are very bad at guarding the interior and usually I'd target the opposing center but in this case I'm targeting Morant who is a monster in the paint. In his last game against the Pelicans on Tuesday, he took 75% of his shots ten feet within the rim and if we look at last season, he attempted the fourth most shots ten feet within the rim, contributing to 55% of his shots. The Pacers have been horrible at guarding this area this season, they're allowing the most field goal attempts for shots within ten feet of the rim.
Morant utilizes the pick and roll heavily, he used it 16 times last game, whilst attempting 12 field goal attempts from it. That means he is looking for the shot more than the roller, which is perfect for us. Even if we look at last season, he utilized the pick and roll the most int he league with 12.8 possessions and averaged 9.7 field goal attempts from the pick and roll.
The Pacers are not good at guarding the pick and roll ball handler at all. They are allowing the most possessions, highest points per possession, most points, third highest field goal attempts whilst doing so on the sixth best efficiency. Indiana plays single coverage and doesn't help on the drives, this will force Morant to take it to the rim on drives instead of kicking it out.
The Pacers have the third worst defensive rating in the league whilst playing at the second fastest pace, which is an absolutely perfect opportunity for Ja to do his thing tonight. The Grizzlies are really expecting Ja to carry the scoring load now that he's back and they've been struggling without him.
Indiana Pacers vs. Memphis Grizzlies Pick
Ja Morant o29.5 Points (-130) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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