Just over a week ago, the Lakers were priced as underdogs to win their first-round series with the Grizzlies.
They’ve looked like anything but the lesser team through the first three games.
Los Angeles enters Monday’s Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead, and oddsmakers expect another win for the purple and gold on their home court.
Can Memphis put up more of a fight in a do-or-die spot on the road?
Here’s how we’re betting Monday’s contest, which tips off at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.
Lakers vs. Grizzlies odds
(via BetMGM)
- Lakers -5.5 (-105), moneyline -225
- Grizzlies +5.5 (-115), moneyline +180
- O/U 222.5 (-110)
Lakers vs. Grizzlies prediction and analysis
(10 p.m. ET on TNT)
The Lakers have seen their odds climb in the hours ahead of Game 4, and there’s a chance this number is even a tick higher immediately before tip-off. Still, in a series defined by blowouts, I’ll happily pay the price for another big win for the superior team in this matchup.
We saw that on full display on Sunday when Los Angeles raced out to a 35-9 lead at the end of the first quarter – tying an NBA record for the largest lead after one quarter in playoff history.
The Grizzlies padded the stat sheet late to cut the final margin to 10, marking the second double-digit win for the Lakers in three games thus far.
How have they done it? One word: size.
Coming into this series, we knew that Memphis’ lack of size without Steven Adams (knee) and Brandon Clarke (Achilles) could loom large.
That’s exactly what we’ve seen thus far on both ends of the court.
Entering Monday, the Lakers have scored 49.4% of their points in the paint (54.7 PPG), the most of any team in the postseason.
They’ve also averaged 8.7 blocks – nearly two more than any other team – while holding the Grizzlies to just 60.3% in the restricted area, which ranks second-worst among playoff teams.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see Los Angeles dominating in this series, as this group has been one of the NBA’s best since acquiring D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley at the trade deadline.
The bigger surprise has been the emergence of fellow midseason acquisition Rui Hachimura, who’s averaging 21.7 points in this series in only the second postseason of his career.
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The Lakers’ role players – who have been so crucial to the team’s midseason turnaround – were all fairly quiet in Game 3, taking a backseat to Anthony Davis (31 points) and LeBron James (25 points) after that rousing first quarter.
I’d expect we’ll see a more inspired performance from the supporting cast in front of a raucous L.A. crowd.
The biggest question on Memphis’ side is what we’ll see from Ja Morant (hand), who sat out Game 2 before exploding for 45 points in Game 3.
His teammates did little to support that mammoth effort, though, and I’m skeptical that he’ll be able to replicate it on Monday – especially with how dominant the Lakers’ interior defense has been all series long.
