New Orleans Pelicans vs. Memphis Grizzlies: A Must-Win for Both
By Tim Burke
The New Orleans Pelicans have a must-win against Memphis.
When the NBA announced that the restart could see play-in games to decide the eighth seed for the playoffs, many across the country believed that was done specifically to give the New Orleans Pelicans and more importantly Zion Williamson a ticket to the playoffs in 2020.
So far, things have not gone to plan after the Pelicans dropped the first two. Luckily, the teams they are chasing haven’t been winning either, so New Orleans practically has a clean slate after Sunday’s games.
Tonight is the night New Orleans can turn things around and get back on the right footing against the very team they’re chasing. After two bad losses to begin the restart the Pels desperately need this one.
It comes at a fortunate time for New Orleans, as Memphis will be playing in the second game of a back-to-back in this one after the Grizzlies lost 108-106 to San Antonio yesterday. That loss closed the gap between the Spurs and Grizzlies and kept Memphis from getting too far ahead of New Orleans.
With a win tonight New Orleans can reel in Memphis just a little more and create more chaos in the standings after Sacramento and Portland fell yesterday. The race for the eighth seed looks like it’ll go down to the wire.
New Orleans needs to bounce back in a major way following the dud performance they put out during their loss to the Clippers on Saturday. If ever there were a time for that to happen it would be now.
According to the Action Network, the Pelicans are -4.5 point favorites at the time of this writing. Based on the teams’ matchups from the regular season that’s underselling how badly New Orleans has beaten up on Memphis this year.
But if you look at the percentage of public bets placed on the teams, the fans see this as close to a coin flip with New Orleans just barely ahead 51-49. The public feeling likely reflects how poorly the Pels have looked for stretches during their two games so far.
The loser of this one is in a deep hole, so this is a must-win for both sides. Let’s take a look at their past games.