The Pelicans are coming into this game with a healthy lineup which has been rare for them over the last 2 years. This is the healthiest their starting lineup has been in a while, but as healthy as their starters are they are actually missing a lot of their bench depth to injuries. The lack of bench depth is not going to be good for the Pelicans here as they will put up a good fight with their starting lineup but the Grizzlies will be able to take advantage of the Pelicans bench and use those opportunities to pull away in this game. Home advantage has also been very important in this matchup as these 2 teams were 2-2 against each other last season with the home team winning all 4 games. They are going up against a Grizzlies team that will be missing some key players like Ja Morant and Steven Adams but the Grizzlies have shown over the last season how good they can be at home with Morant in the lineup and they also picked up Marcus Smart to really tie this starting lineup together this season. The Grizzlies already had the 2nd best defensive rating in the NBA last season and now they have added Smart who was one of the better defensive players on the Celtics, the Celtics being a team who were 3rd in the NBA in defensive rating last season. There is no doubt that the Grizzlies have a big edge on the defensive end in this game and they will be able to take advantage of the lack of bench depth for the Pelicans on the road here. The Grizzlies will cover the spread in this game.