The Memphis Grizzlies have slowed down following a red-hot start. They have lost three of their last four games but will be looking to get things moving back in the right direction against the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night. The Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 118-102 win on the road against the Raptors in their last game. Ty Jerome led the team with 27 points to help the Grizzlies improve to 5-0 on the road. The Nuggets are coming off a loss they suffered at the hands of the Rockets to start their road trip. Denver fell 110-100 despite 38 points from Jamal Murray. The Nuggets will need a better effort from their role players if they want to come away with a victory. Everyone not named Murray or Nikola Jokic combined to score only 37 points against Houston.
We saw the Nuggets deficiencies in full effect against the Rockets. Those areas include their depth around Murray and Jokic and their ability to rebound the basketball. The Nuggets are a talented team, but these statistical categories will burn them at times this season. On top of the poor shooting night from their role players, Denver surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and lost the second-chance points battle 24-11. The same effort will not work against a Memphis team that is playing confident basketball and averaging 48.3 rebounds per game. The pair of Cameron Boozer and Zach Edey is a big and young duo that has helped the Grizzlies get off to a fast start by controlling the boards. Memphis will also try to make Denver play faster than it likes to play. Memphis is the eighth-fastest team in terms of pace, while Denver ranks 26th. If the Nuggets' role players don’t show up again, the Grizzlies scoring led by Jerome may be too much for Murray and Jokic to overcome.
Nuggets vs Grizzlies prediction: Memphis +4.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to ML at +130.
