The Memphis Grizzlies got exactly what they hoped for in superstar guard Ja Morant’s return to action after being suspended for the team’s first 25 games on Tuesday night, possibly flipping the script on a dismal start to the season across Tennessee sports betting. Morant, who was suspended 25 games during the summer for a litany of off-court mishaps, drilled a game-winning buzzer-beater against the New Orleans Pelicans to cap off a wild, 115-113 victory that pushed Memphis to 7-19 for the year.
In the two-point win, Morant finished with 34 points on 12-of-24 shooting, while wracking up a +12 rating in the victory, which possibly giving the Grizzlies that shot of life they’ve desperately needed all year. Next up, Memphis gets to host a 13-12 Indiana Pacers squad on Thursday night as they look to continue their recent good fortunes and get back on track, with the team still looking at +800 odds to even qualify for the NBA Playoffs on ESPN BET Tennessee.
Currently, the Grizzlies sit 13th in the NBA’s Western Conference, six games behind the 10th place Phoenix Suns and 5.5 games behind the No. 11 Golden State Warriors.
Utilizing SHRPSports.com, BetTennessee.com looked at how NBA teams that are the bottom 5 teams in standing on January 1st finish out the season. Do they stay at the bottom or should fans expect some improvement? We utilized data from the last 5 NBA seasons (2020-21 season eliminated due to COVID-19 schedule) to develop the data.
* 2021-2022 had 6 teams due to a tie in standings.
How Do Year-End Bottom 5 NBA Teams Finish?
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Hope For Grizzlies With Morant's Return
Over the last half decade, 73.1% of teams that started the new year in the league’s bottom five finished in one of those five spots, with the 2021-22 Pelicans being the only team among the bunch to eventually reach the playoffs that season. Conversely, the 2019-20 NBA season was the only one of the five where all five of the bottom tier teams stayed in that rung, meaning there’s reason to believe that Memphis could right their woeful standing, especially with Morant back in full force.
Right now, Morant and the Grizzlies need as many wins as they can get, with contests against the Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Pelicans, Denver Nuggets, L.A. Clippers and Sacramento Kings remaining before the calendar flips over to 2024.
If the Grizzlies can go 6-0 during that stretch, they’d enter 2024 with a 13-19 (.406) for the season, which would put them in 11th place out West, behind the Warriors’ current .481 win percentage and ahead of the current No. 11 Utah Jazz, who have a .370 win percentage currently.
Also of interest: How Do Grizzlies Perform Compared to Preseason Win Total?
