NBA Knowledge
Tuesday's hot teams
-- Indiana won four of its last five games (5-3 last 8HF).
-- Miami won six of its last nine games (0-4 last 4AU).
-- Pistons won three of last four games (7-5-1 last 13HF).
-- Toronto won five of its last seven games (4-2 last 6HF).
-- Clippers won their last five games (4-1 last 5HF).
Cold teams
-- Knicks lost six of their last eight games (2-4 last 6AU).
-- 76ers lost nine of their last ten games (4-0 last 4AU).
-- Thunder lost four of their last five road games (3-4-1AU).
-- Spurs lost last three games, two to Golden State (1-8 vs spread last nine overall).
-- Memphis lost eight of its last nine games (3-4 last 7AU).
Series records
-- Knicks lost their last six games with Indiana.
-- Pistons won three of last four games with Miami.
-- 76ers lost last ten games (3-7 vs spread) with Toronto.
-- Thunder lost three of last four visits to San Antonio.
-- Clippers won three of last four games with Memphis.
Totals
-- Six of last seven Knick-Pacer games stayed under the total.
-- Five of last seven Detroit games stayed under the total.
-- Three of last four Philly-Toronto games went over the total.
-- Five of last six Oklahoma City games went over total.
-- Four of last five Memphis-Clipper games stayed under.
Back/backs
-- Thunder is 2-4-1 in last seven games if it played the night before.
Armadillosports.com
Tuesday's Top Action
By Sportsbook.ag
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (42-38) at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (52-28)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Los Angeles -7.5, Total 197.5
The Grizzlies continue to fight for their seeding in the Western Conference playoffs when they face the Clippers on Tuesday.
Memphis currently sits in the sixth spot in the Western Conference, but the team can climb as high as the fifth spot or it can drop to seven. A lot would need to happen for either of those scenarios to come true, as the Grizzlies can only get the fifth seed if they win out and the Blazers lose their last game of the seasons. They also can only get the seventh seed if the Mavericks win their final game of the season and the Grizzlies lose their final two games.
Memphis does, however, have a tough two-game road set to end the season. They’ll be facing the Clippers on Tuesday night and then they’ll play a hungry Warriors team that is looking to break the wins record on Wednesday. That means that this is the game that Memphis will likely need to win. The Clippers will, however, have some fight in them in this one. They may have already locked themselves into the West’s fourth seed, but they are now 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS in their past 10 games.
The Grizzlies, however, have split wins SU and are 2-0 ATS when facing the Clippers on the year. Memphis also happens to be 4-0 ATS when playing Los Angeles at the Staples Center over the past three seasons. One thing worth noting is that the Clippers are 15-5 ATS revenging a same season loss versus an opponent this season.
Memphis is without PG Mike Conley (Achilles), PF Brandan Wright (Knee) and C Marc Gasol (Foot) for the rest of the season and SG Tony Allen (Hamstring) is questionable on Tuesday. The Clippers, meanwhile, are healthy but could rest their starters in this one.
The Grizzlies are going to be playing with a ton of fire these next few games because they still have a chance to improve their playoff seeding. One guy they’ll be leaning on heavily on Tuesday is PF Zach Randolph (15.2 PPG, 7.9 RPG). Randolph has absolutely torched the Clippers this season, averaging 27.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 7.0 APG and 1.5 SPG versus Los Angeles in two meetings. He is a lot tougher than Blake Griffin and will do what he can to bully him on both ends of the floor.
Another guy that could be in for a big game is former Clipper SF Matt Barnes (10.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.0 SPG). Barnes was outstanding against Golden State on Saturday, finishing that one with 24 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes of action. He is very hit-or-miss, but the Grizzlies are tough to beat when he is shooting the ball well.
SG Lance Stephenson (8.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG) will also come ready to play in this one. The Clippers traded him away at the deadline, so he’ll be out to prove what he’s worth in this game. He had 12 points and two steals in 28 minutes of action the first time he faced Los Angeles. It’s important that he plays a solid two-way game in this one.
The Clippers do not have a lot to play for at the moment, but they are still trying to get PF Blake Griffin (21.7 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 4.9 APG) and PG Chris Paul (19.6 PPG, 9.9 APG, 4.2 RPG, 2.1 SPG) on the same page. Griffin has played in four games since returning from his broken hand, but he has really not played well yet. He’s averaging just 10.0 PPG and 6.8 RPG on 37.5% shooting from the field since coming back and has looked extremely rusty on the floor. The Clippers desperately need him to start knocking down some jumpers to get in a rhythm before the postseason.
Chris Paul is somebody that should be able to help Griffin get it going. Paul needs to make sure he can find Griffin for some easy shots to get him to gain some confidence early in this game. He’ll also need to be aggressive as a scorer on Tuesday. Memphis is weak at the point guard positions, so Paul should be able to score plenty in this one.