San Antonio vs. Memphis Line Has Grizzlies Favored: Another Dog Ready to Bite?

The San Antonio vs. Memphis line had the Grizzlies a -2 favorite at BetUS.com.

As Gambling911.com has been noting, the NBA Playoffs first round dogs have gone 15-6-1 Against The Spread heading into Saturday’s play.  On paper, the Spurs look like they stand an easy shot of helping the trend alive.  After all, when is it normal to see San Antonio as an underdog?

The problem here is that the Grizzlies stunned San Antonio in Game 1 while covering the spread in Game 2 with an 87-93 point loss.

But Manu Ginobili is back and this is a different Spurs team with him on board.  Still, he’s not in the best condition after spraining his right elbow.

"It was uncomfortable," Ginobili said of the brace, which he plans to continue wearing through this week and possibly beyond. "But I felt I did OK. I took some risk. I went for some steals and rebounds and it wasn't that I played worried about getting hit or something."

Some stats to consider before betting on this game: 

The Spurs are just 4-12 ATS in Playoffs games over the past three seasons.

Against division opponents,  Memphis is 14-4 ATS.

San Antonio is also 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.

Memphis is also 8-0 Against The Spread after playing 3 consecutive road games and a very impressive 28-12 revenging a loss vs. opponent.  Additionally, they are 22-6 ATS in their last 28 games following a S.U. loss.

More importantly perhaps, Memphis has won three of the last four in this series.  They are 7-0 Against The Spread.

Elsewhere, Chicago was a -4.5 favorite vs. Indiana.  Portland was a -3.5 favorite vs. Dallas.  Denver was a -5 point favorite vs. Oklahoma City.

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com