The Memphis Grizzlies playoff odds are speeding their way towards the franchise’s worst at year-end in a half-decade, with a 20-36 (.357) mark at the NBA All-Star break.
The fifth year of Taylor Jenkins’ stint as head coach got off to an unenviable start long before the opening tip of the regular season, with franchise star Ja Morant being suspended by the NBA for 25 games for a slew of off-the-court issues.
Things didn’t improve much once the 24-year-old returned, however, as Morant made it all of nine games before suffering a season-ending labral tear in early January. He averaged 25.1 points, 8.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game in that brief stretch.
Now, the Grizzlies have all but guaranteed they’ll fail to clear the team’s Tennessee sports betting preseason win total (45.5) with 26 games to play. Memphis opens post- All-Star play on Friday against the 36-17 Los Angeles Clippers.
Memphis is set to miss its preseason number for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign, where the Grizzlies finished 33-49 after facing a preseason over/under of 34.5. To get a sense of the greater themes behind the Grizzlies’ recent win total over/unders, BetTennessee.com took a break from reviewing the best Tennessee sportsbook promos and broke down how Memphis has fared against that preseason number since 2013-14.
Memphis Grizzlies Win Total By Year
Fanatics Sportsbook Tennessee lists Boston as the NBA title favorite at +260. Denver is second at +450.
How Grizzlies Have Fared Against Win Totals
Over the last 11 years, Memphis has cleared their preseason figure six times, doing so each year between 2019-20 and 2022-23, when the club notched consecutive 50-win seasons and the Grizzlies made the Western Conference semifinals in 2022.
Memphis failed to hit its preseason win total in 2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18, and 2018-19, showing how consistently the Grizzlies have succeeded on the court in the sport’s regular season over the last decade.
That regular season success rarely transitioned into playoff wins, however, as the Grizzlies have only reached the Western Conference Finals once, doing so in the 2012-13 season under coach Lionel Hollins after going 56-26 in the regular season.
Since then, Memphis has been knocked out in the first round nine times. Tennessee betting apps listed the Grizzlies as +2000 to win the NBA championship to start this season. Now Memphis is +100000.