Grizzlies vs. Warriors Game 5 Betting Line and Mets vs. Cubs Preview

Carrie Stroup has your Grizzlies vs. Warriors Game 5 betting line and your Mets vs. Cubs wagering preview for May 13.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (61-30) at GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (73-17)

Western Conference – Semifinals- Game 5

Sportsbook.ag Line: Golden State -9.5, Total: 196

The Warriors look to take a 3-2 series lead with a home victory over the Grizzlies in Game 6 Wednesday.

The Warriors were in a tough spot on Monday, as they needed a victory in Memphis to avoid going down 3-1 in the series. Golden State ended up having one of its best performances of the postseason, winning 101-84 as a 4-point favorite. The Warriors shot 47.5% from the field and 42.4% from behind the arc in the game, holding the Grizzlies to just 37.5% shooting from the field in the process. They’ll need to be that locked in on both ends on Wednesday as well.

Prior to the Grizzlies’ win-and-cover over the Warriors at Oracle Arena in Game 2, Golden State had won three straight games at home against Memphis SU and two of those games ATS. Both games played at Oracle Arena in this series have gone Under the total. The Grizzlies are 27-14 ATS in road games when playing six or less games in 14 days over the past three seasons. The Warriors, however, are 31-17 ATS after a game where they covered the spread this season.

Both teams come into this game relatively healthy, but PF Marreese Speights (Calf) is expected to miss the rest of the series for Golden State.

The Grizzlies had a golden opportunity to seriously take control of the series on Monday, but they were unable to win at home. They’ll now need to win at least one other game at Oracle Arena if they are going to advance. C Marc Gasol (19.8 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.4 BPG, 1.0 SPG in playoffs) is going to have to be at his best on Wednesday. He is averaging 20.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG and 4.0 APG over the past two contests, but he is just 13-for-36 from the field in those games. He is going to have to start being more efficient on the offensive end and has to finish around the basket regularly.

PF Zach Randolph (16.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG in playoffs) had just 12 points in Game 4 after scoring at least 20 points in each of the three previous games. Randolph did grab 11 rebounds in the loss, but his team needs him to be better as a scorer. He has a strength advantage over most of the guys guarding him on Golden State and he has to use that to bully his way to the basket in the post.

PG Mike Conley (15.2 PPG, 4.3 APG, 1.0 SPG in playoffs) is averaging just 10.5 PPG in 32.5 MPG since scoring 22 points in his Game 2 return in this series. He has not looked great on either side of the ball and the Grizzlies need him to be better. If he is badly outplayed by Steph Curry on Wednesday then his team has little to no chance of stealing a victory.

The Warriors found their game on Monday and will look to regain the lead in this series on Wednesday. PG Stephen Curry (29.0 PPG, 6.6 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG) had struggled with his shot before Game 4, but he got hot on Monday. Curry finished the game with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals on 11-for-22 shooting from the field and 4-for-9 from the outside. He must continue to take advantage of Mike Conley, who is nowhere near being 100% healthy.

SG Klay Thompson (20.8 PPG, 1.1 BPG, 1.0 SPG in playoffs) had just 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting in Game 4 and will need to shoot a lot better moving forward. The Warriors got away with Klay not being great on the offensive end Monday, but that won’t be the case every game.

PF Draymond Green (14.4 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.4 APG, 1.0 BPG in playoffs) had his best game of the series on Monday, finishing with 16 points, 10 boards, four assists, two blocks and two steals in 35 minutes. Green played excellent defense and it was perfect timing for the forward, as he was starting to shoulder a lot of the blame for the Warriors falling behind in this series.

C Andrew Bogut (5.4 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.6 BPG. 1.1 SPG in playoffs) had nine boards, four assists, three blocks and three steals in Game 4. It was his best defensive performance in this series and he must continue to battle whomever they put him on the rest of the way.

NEW YORK METS (20-13) at CHICAGO CUBS (17-15)                           

Sportsbook.ag Line: New York -109, Chicago -101, Total: 6.5                            

Two of the fastest rising teams in the National League, the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs, meet for the third of four games at Wrigley Field.                  

The Mets started the year at a torrid pace, winning 13 of their first 16 games, but have gone a very mediocre 7-10 since that point. They had won four of their past five games coming into this series though, but once again have hit a road block after failing to grab a victory in either of the first two contests against Chicago. New York scored a mere four runs over those games and failed to do anything offensively in the 6-1 loss on Tuesday night. They had a meager five hits and struck out 12 times while going 0-for-3 with RISP. Two of those hits came off the bat of 2B Daniel Murphy (.233), who after a horrible start to the year now has hits in seven of his past 10 outings in which he is 12-for-39 (.308) with four RBI.

On the other side of the diamond, the Mets are dealing with a Cubs group which has the brightest young core of players in the majors as each of their stud infielders is 25 or younger and has led them to a rare winning record in the early going. May hasn’t been that great though, with a record of 5-7 as they look to continue winning against this New York team. They’ve muscled out victories in the first two games of this series, scoring a total of 10 runs while hitting two balls out of the park in each win. One of those homers came from 3B Kris Bryant (.276) in each game, with the four-bagger on Monday being the first of his promising career, and he now has nine RBI and six runs in the past eight contests.

Getting the call to start in this game will be RHP Matt Harvey (5-1, 2.72 ERA) of the Mets as he goes up against RHP Jason Hammel (3-1, 3.52 ERA) for the host Cubs. The road has not brought any success to New York as the loss on Monday dropped their record away from home to 7-10 and it could get worse as Chicago is now 9-7 in its historic stadium. It’s no surprise that the Cubbies have gotten the best of the Mets in this series so far as they are 10-5 against them since the start of 2013 and have won 6-of-8 games when at home in that time.

Trends show that New York is an impressive 14-3 (.824) as a favorite of -110 or more this year while Hammel’s teams are 5-2 when he pitches against NL East teams in the past three seasons. Still missing for the Metropolitans is 3B David Wright (Hamstring) as Chicago is just missing two role players; 3B Mike Olt (Wrist) and 2B Tommy La Stella (Ribs).                                                                 

Harvey has returned from elbow surgery nearly as dominant as when he first came to the big leagues and has had a quality start in five of his six starts on the year. In those outings he has struck out 38 batters (8.6 K/9) and has shown amazing control (1.1 BB/9) as the young righty has left 81.4% of runners on base. He can consistently get batters to swing at balls out of the strike zone with 35.1% of his out of the zone pitches being swung at as hitters make contact in a mere 58.2% of those attempts.

Harvey has just one start under his belt against this Cubs team and it came back in 2013 when he went 7.1 strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits as he struck out six (0 walks). Even though it is a limited sample, some of the offensive players for Chicago have done well in the matchup with OF Chris Coughlan (3-for-5, 1 double, 2 RBI) and SS Starlin Castro (2-for-3) each having multiple hits. On the other hand, OF Dexter Fowler (1-for-6) has struggled against the New York ace.

The Mets ‘pen has been great thus far, going 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA (0.96 WHIP) and have successfully saved 15-of-16 games (94%). Getting those saves has been Jeurys Familia (1.59 ERA, 13 saves), who’s compiled a 20:3 K/BB ratio with eight hits allowed in 17 innings on the mound.             

Although Hammel is one of the older players in Chicago’s clubhouse at 32-years-old, he has looked like a younger version of himself while striking out 8.2 batters per nine innings and is on pace to sport a sub-3.75 ERA for the third time in four seasons. His big improvement this year has been control as he has walked a miniscule 1.2 batters per nine innings, close to a walk less per nine than his previous career-high. He should be running hot as he comes off a great performance in Milwaukee last week where he earned a win after throwing seven innings of five-hit, two run ball in which he struck out eight (3 walks).

In his career against the Mets, Hammel has struggled, going 0-3 (1-3 team record) with a 6.33 ERA (1.50 WHIP) and despite pitching at least six innings in each of his past three meetings with them, he’s allowed at least six hits with four runs each time. OF Curtis Granderson has gotten to him in the past, going 6-for-17 (.353) with two doubles, two HRs and three RBI as he’s joined by 2B Daniel Murphy (4-for-8, 1 double) who’s also been great in the matchup. No other player on the New York squad, who is active, has more than three at-bats against the veteran.

The bullpen for the Cubs has let them down, going 5-6 with a 4.42 ERA (1.32 WHIP) and is a poor 7-for-13 (54%) in save opportunities. Hector Rondon (3.21 ERA, 7 saves) has not blown a save in his past five attempts but does have a poor 1.36 WHIP on the year.

- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter