76ers vs. Grizzlies Prediction and Odds for November 20: Will Maxey Calling Out Embiid Inspire Change?

The Philadelphia 76ers (2-11) will pay a visit to the Memphis Grizzlies (8-7) as the NBA regular season resumes on Wednesday.

The news around the league in the early week was that Tyrese Maxey called out Joel Embiid for being late to team activities and setting a poor example for the players and coaching staff. Although Philly has not been fully healthy, they have only two wins despite opening as one of the top teams in championship odds.

On the other side, the Grizzlies are hoping to round their way back into form after dropping three of their last four, including a contest with the Denver Nuggets last night.

Here, we will analyze the matchups and share our best 76ers vs. Grizzlies betting picks for Wednesday.

76ers vs. Grizzlies Betting Odds for Wednesday, November 20

The Sixers are 3-10 (23.1 percent) against the spread, tied for the worst mark in the league, 0-4 ATS as a favorite, and 2-5 (28.6 percent) ATS on the road.

The Grizzlies are 9-6 (60 percent) ATS, 4-1 (80 percent) ATS as an underdog, and 5-3 (62.5 percent) ATS at home.

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76ers vs. Grizzlies Prediction

Philadelphia 76ers Preview

Let’s not pull any punches—it’s been a brutal start for the Sixers.

What looked like a cohesive blend of pace, space, inside-outside shot-creation, defense, and playmaking among the Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George trio did not play out, partially due to injuries and partially because the player simply underperformed relative toe expectations.

Rookie and 16th-overall pick Jared McCain was the team’s best player over the last couple of weeks, averaging 25.2 points and 4.0 assists on 44.1 percent three-point shooting over his last six games. The young guard scored 20+ points in five of these games and set career-highs of 34 points and 10 assists against the then-undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 13.

As a whole, and despite McCain’s incredibly impressive start to his NBA career, the Sixers have the worst offensive rating in the league. To put that in context, they scored 2.4 fewer points per 100 possessions than the Washington Wizards.

Philly’s defense also ranked 16th, or right at league average, in overall rating. That’s despite having an intelligent defensive coach and several versatile pieces.

The negatives don’t end there. They rank 28th in assist-to-turnover ratio and 29th in rebound rate and deftly blend a lack of cohesion with an absence of desire.

The season is still very young, and there’s plenty of time for this team to turn things around. They’ll get an immediate boost once Embiid returns to fitness, as he averaged just 14.7 points after he averaged 34.7 a year ago.

Memphis Grizzlies Preview

While there is internal turmoil plaguing the Sixers, there is palpable frustration from Grizzlies fans with coach Taylor Jenkins. Despite leading the Grizz to top-two seeds in the Western Conference in recent seasons, the 40-year-olds questionable rotation patterns and minute dispersions are causing supporters’ patience to wane.  

No player on the team averaged more than 28.8. minutes per game (Jaren Jackson Jr.). That’s despite several players, namely Ja Morant, dealing with injuries and creating more time for other players.

Jenkins also regularly plays 11- and 12-man rotations, if not even more. That’s against the grain of the standard nine or 10 that most teams use.

On top of that, he hasn’t settled on a steady lineup. The natural conclusion is that he doesn’t know who his best players and combinations are and is essentially giving everyone a test run on different game days.

Despite the chopping and changing, Memphis ranks seventh in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating. That’s resulted in them producing the sixth-best net rating, which actually makes their 8-7 record look much worse.

One of the culprits in Memphis’ inability to win games in the face of their statistical excellence is their performance down the stretch of close games. They are just 25th in clutch net rating and were outscored by an average of 19.2 points per 100 possessions, which, if applied to general net rating, would make them roughly 1.5x worse than the Wizards.

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76ers vs. Grizzlies Betting Pick

• 76ers vs. Grizzlies pick: 76ers -2.5 (-110) at BetMGM

This is an intriguing matchup because of all of the factors at play and because of the potential both teams have—Philly’s mostly being on paper, and Memphis’ being evident but having not led to immediate success.

The Grizzlies are on the second night of a back-to-back and spent a lot of energy mounting a would-be comeback against the Nuggets. Meanwhile, the Sixers, if they have any pride, will take the reported locker room conversation and use it as motivation to come out and grab their third win of the season.

Believing that Philly will come out with a new energy and outlook, we like them to vindicate their status as road favorite on Wednesday. If they continue to look disjointed and uninspired, well, it might already be time to pack up the season. 

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How to Watch 76ers vs. Grizzlies on 11/20/24

• When: Wednesday, Nov. 20 @ 8:00 p.m. ET

• Where: FedEx Forum

• TV: NBA League Pass

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