Two teams with championship aspirations meet on Sunday when the Cleveland Cavaliers host the Memphis Grizzlies.
The pregame narrative: Cleveland has been the league’s best team this season but Memphis isn’t far off. I like the visitors to cover a teased-up alternate spread, am backing Ja Morant and fading Evan Mobley.
Check out my Grizzlies vs. Cavaliers same-game parlay predictions for Feb. 23.
Grizzlies vs. Cavaliers predictions
Parlay: Grizzlies +9.5 | Morant 20+ points | Under 18.5 points (+290)
Grizzlies +9.5 (-230): It’s hard to imagine Memphis getting blown out tonight. The Grizzlies sit second in the Western Conference at 37-19 and own the third-best ATS record (35-21) in basketball.
Cleveland has the best ATS record (37-19) but should struggle to beat Memphis by this margin.
- The Grizzlies have only lost by double-digits eight times this season.
- Three of those losses came with Morant sidelined.
Memphis has a relatively clean bill of health while Cleveland has two big names (Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen) listed as questionable.
The Grizzlies have a significant rebounding advantage over the Cavs — second in rebounding rate compared to 12th — and play with the fastest pace in basketball.
I expect them to control the tempo in this one.
SGP legs
Morant 20+ points (-157): Morant is having the worst scoring year since his sophomore season but he’s still putting up 20.5 PPG and has a solid baseline to work with.
The high-flying point guard takes 16.1 shots a night, which has gone up to 18.2 in February.
That type of volume means we’ll be right around this number barring an absolute stinker. And I don’t think Morant will have one against a Cavaliers team allowing the third-most PPG to opposing point guards, per Fantasy Pros.
Morant has scored 24-plus points in four straight games against the Cavs
Mobley under 18.5 points (-121): This is a solid spot to fade Mobley, who has been largely productive this season.
The Grizzlies are an elite defensive team, ranking seventh in defensive rating (111.0) and third in opponent field goal percentage (45.1%).
At power forward, Mobley does a lot of his damage in the mid-range and at the rim. Memphis has the best mid-range defence in the NBA and the eighth-best rim defence, per Cleaning the Glass.
Mobley only takes 12.6 shots per game so he will need a hyper-efficient performance to top this line.
Picks made at 1:30 p.m. ET on 02/21/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.