ESPN doing everything in its power to jinx the Golden State Warriors against the Memphis Grizzlies

ESPN released its second-round NBA playoff predictions on Sunday morning, and all 20 of its self-proclaimed experts picked the Golden State Warriors to beat the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference semifinals.

The 20-0 prediction rout (which included just one prognostication of the series even needing to go seven games) was one of three shutout predictions from ESPN’s leading pundits — the Suns and Heat were also 100-percent, sure-things according to The Worldwide Leader in Sports, though Zach Lowe weirdly didn’t offer up a predictions for Heat-Sixers.

Curiously missing from ESPN’s “experts” group was former NBA player and current “Inside the NBA” analyst Jalen Rose, who said during the first round he still thinks the Grizzlies are better than the Warriors.

The Dubs have actually lost 7 of the last 11 match-ups against the Grizzlies dating back to 2019, including 3 of the 4 meetings this season — though Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Jordan Poole didn’t play together in any of the four meetings, and the Grizzlies were without Dillon Brooks in their January win and Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. in their March 28 matchup.

Included in those seven losses was a 117-112 overtime play-in game against the Grizzlies in 2021; the Warriors were forced to start Kent Bazemore with Thompson still recovering from his ACL tear.

The now fully healthy (save a still-injured Andre Iguodala) Warriors squad blazed through a 4-1 first round series win against the Denver Nuggets on their way to becoming Vegas’ favorite to win the NBA title. They’ve since been surpassed by the Phoenix Suns for that honor, but you’ll still be hard-pressed to find a pundit who doesn’t have them winning Round 2. In addition to ESPN’s being all-in on the Warriors, The Athletic’s John Hollinger picked Golden State to win in seven against Memphis before the playoffs even began. Even two of the local paper’s three sports writers in Memphis have the Warriors beating the Grizz — only Memphis Commercial Appeal sports reporter Evan Barnes has Morant’s club advancing.

You’ll need to go deep into the national sports prediction slate, all the way to zombie, Maven-owned Sports Illustrated, to find the lone national pundit predicting a Grizzlies series win: fantasy and betting writer Kyle Wood, who isn’t exactly an NBA insider. Wood graduated from journalism school last year and joined SI after a stint at WUFT News and the Independent Florida Alligator.