The Los Angeles Lakers are going through it right now, as the team lost its first two games — and had teammates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard fighting on the bench on Friday night.
Now, the Lakers look to get in the win column against an undefeated Memphis Grizzlies team that is playing great basketball right now.
NBA betting odds show books have some faith in the Lakers, setting them as 5.5-point favorites at the Staples Center, but will Frank Vogel’s team get the job done at home?
Find out in our Grizzlies vs. Lakers picks and predictions for Sunday, October 24.
Grizzlies vs Lakers odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The Grizzlies were 6-point underdogs when this first hit the betting market but the Lakers are now only 5.5-point home favorites. Most bettors appear to be rocking with LeBron James & Co. in this one, so the sharps are likely pouring some money onto the Memphis side. The total, meanwhile, has moved from 221.0 to 224.5. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Grizzlies vs Lakers predictions
Predictions made on 10/24/2021 at 10:18 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Grizzlies vs Lakers game info
• Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Date: Sunday, October 24, 2021
• Tip-off: 9:30 p.m. ET
• TV: Spectrum SportsNet, Bally Sports Southeast
Grizzlies vs Lakers betting preview
Injuries
Grizzlies: Dillon Brooks F (Out).
Lakers: Wayne Ellington G (Questionable), Kendrick Nunn G (Out), Talen Horton-Tucker F (Out), Trevor Ariza F (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Lakers are 0-4 ATS in their last four games as home favorites. Find more NBA betting trends for Grizzlies vs. Lakers.
Grizzlies vs Lakers picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
It’s obviously early in the season, but the Lakers are currently just 22nd in the league in offensive rating. At the moment, the Russell Westbrook acquisition isn’t looking like it made a whole ton of sense, as the offense lacks floor spacing and the ball isn’t moving around very much.
The Lakers will eventually find their rhythm and make some improvements, but the reality is that this group might not crack the Top 10 in offensive efficiency at all this season.
Where Los Angeles needs to be elite is on the defensive end... but the Lakers are just 17th in defensive rating in the early going. That’s not a particularly encouraging sign when facing a Grizzlies team that is first in the league in offensive rating through two games. Memphis star Ja Morant has picked up where he left off in last year’s playoffs, averaging 32.5 points and 7.0 assists per game through two contests. Morant is relentless in getting into the paint and the 22-year-old has a diverse set of shots around the basket and his penetration should decimate a struggling Lakers defense.
When the Lakers' defense collapses on Morant, that’s when he finds guys like De’Anthony Melton and Desmond Bane. Both are averaging over 20 points per game this season, cashing in on open opportunities and shooting the three-ball extremely well. Also, Jaren Jackson Jr. is showing why the team gave him big money before the season started: The versatile big man is averaging 17 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game and has connected on 46.2 percent of his threes. His matchup with Anthony Davis should be a fun one to watch, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he held his own a bit here.
Overall, it’s going to be hard to back the Lakers until they start playing better team basketball. Until then, this Grizzlies team is looking like a live road underdog with a legitimate chance of winning outright.
Prediction: Grizzlies +5.5 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
Oddly enough, the Lakers are currently playing at the second-fastest pace in the league through two games this season. Los Angeles was just 21st in pace during the 2020-21 season and only got older in the offseason, but it does make a little sense with Westbrook’s affinity for pushing the tempo.
Considering Los Angeles’ struggles offensively, playing an up-tempo game is only going to play more to the strengths of one of the league’s most explosive offenses. With that in mind, don’t be surprised if the Grizzlies put up a big number tonight: Memphis has shooters all around Morant, who would love to play a game in which he’s simply getting up and down the floor and given the opportunity to do what he does best.
The Over also happens to be 7-0 in Memphis’ last seven games and 5-2-1 in Los Angeles’ last eight games against teams with winning records.
Prediction: Over 224.5 (-105)
Best bet
The Grizzlies could win this game outright, so the Memphis ML is juicy as a plus-money play, but the best value you can get is taking the points here. Memphis is too good of a team to be getting this many against a struggling Los Angeles group.
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins is also an unbelievable basketball mind, so he’ll have his team extremely prepared to exploit some of the Lakers’ many weaknesses.
For as great as Lakers fans can be, Los Angeles is just 14-27 ATS in front of the home crowd since the start of last season — and combine that with the Grizzlies also going 16-6 ATS as road underdogs of six or fewer points under Jenkins.
Pick: Grizzlies +5.5 (-110)
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