The Memphis Grizzlies and the Utah Jazz will continue their first-round battle on Monday at the FedExForum. The Grizzlies shocked the No. 1 seed with a Game 1 victory but have dropped two games in a row since then.
Utah has gotten off to a fast start in each meeting so far and bookmaker Bovada believes that they will fly out of the gates again. The odds are at -135 for the Jazz to get to 20 points first and at +105 for Memphis to do it.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 30th, 6:00 P.M. (EST)
The Jazz limited the opposition to just 17 first quarter-points in Game 1 but had a poor shooting night and it was costly in the end in a 112-109 loss. However, it looks like it was a wake-up call for the squad as the regular season winners have done a professional job in the next pair of games.
Quin Snyder’s squad even survived a 47-point outburst by Ja Morant in Game 2. He outshined everyone on the court, but Utah got Donovan Mitchell back into the lineup and shot lights out from downtown with a 19-for-39 effort.
Mitchell missed over a month of action with a sprained ankle, but he’s returned in great form averaging 27 points per game in two outings. The 24-year-old had a brilliant postseason campaign last year by averaging 36.3 points a night and the Jazz should be very confident of their chances in the playoffs if Mitchell stays healthy.
It should be a fun back and forth battle here between Mitchell and Morant. Last season’s Rookie of the Year is averaging 33.7 points through the first three games and Memphis needs more of the same if they plan on hanging around and taking the series to at least six games.
Dillon Brooks is also having a nice series with a 27.0 scoring average, but the team’s defensive play hasn’t been good enough. Utah dropped 141 points on them in Game 2 and the Jazz are scoring 123.7 points per game in the series overall.
Memphis has been very vulnerable from three-point range with Utah nailing 16.7 triples per game. That’s 50 points the Grizzlies are giving up with the three-ball alone and head coach Taylor Jenkins has to figure out how to chase the Jazz players away from the three-point line.
With Morant shining on the offensive end, a better defensive effort would greatly improve Memphis’ chances of success in the series.
