NBA basketball betting picks: Memphis @ Charlotte

Added on Jan 09, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

Injuries are clearly taking their toll on the NBA at the moment, with five of the eight games scheduled for Saturday currently off the board. Of the three games currently open for NBA basketball betting, the best value may be in Charlotte where the hometown Bobcats host the Memphis Grizzlies.

Memphis Grizzlies at Charlotte Bobcats
January 9, 4:05 PM Eastern

Memphis played last night, needing a late game jumper by OJ Mayo to get past the undermanned Utah Jazz who were playing without starting point guard Deron Williams. Charlotte last played on the road on Thursday, losing to the New York Knicks. Both teams are on the upswing, with Charlotte currently holding down the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and Memphis only one game out of the playoffs in the West. The Bobcats, like a lot of young teams, are starting to develop a strong home court but have struggled on the road. Charlotte is 12-4 at home but only 3-15 away. Memphis is 11-5 at home and 7-12 on the road.

Both teams have been moneymakers for sports betting enthusiasts this season. The Grizzlies enter the game with a 19-16 ATS mark while the Bobcats are an even more impressive 21-13 against the spread. Charlotte is 7-4 ATS as a home favorite and 4-1 ATS as a favorite of 3′ to 6 points. The Grizz are 13-10 ATS as an underdog. While Memphis’ YTD pointspread record isn’t as impressive as Charlotte’s they’re really started to ‘gel’ in the past month and have covered 11 of their last 16 games.

Two things at work in this handicap: first, while we respect Charlotte’s solid record at home we’re thinking that they may be overvalued here. More significnantly, its obvious that overall the Western Conference is far superior to the East top to bottom. Memphis is 7-4 ATS against Eastern Conference foes, while Charlotte is only 2-4 ATS against the Western Conference. Charlotte has won and covered the last two meetings in this building, but the teams haven’t played since last January and this is a much better Grizzlies team at this point. We’ll look for the Grizz to be in this one throughout, with the outright win a definite possibility.

Bet Memphis +5′ over Charlotte