The Golden State Warriors (48-4), the league’s top scoring team, will challenge the Portland Trail Blazers (27-27) at the Moda Center. The game starts at 10:00 pm ET on Friday, Feb. 19 and will air on GS2 and CNW.
The Trail Blazers beat the Rockets 116-103 the last time they played. Damian Lillard was the team’s high scorer with 31 points on 9-for-22 shooting. The Warriors, meanwhile, are coming off a 112-104 win against the Suns in their last outing. Stephen Curry shot 9-for-17 and led in scoring with 26 points.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Warriors won the first game 128-108. Lillard put up 40 points and 10 assists.
The Trail Blazers enter the game with records of 27-27 Straight Up (SU) and 30-24 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 27-27 SU and 30-24 ATS versus the Western Conference. The most recent ten-game stretch for the Trail Blazers has gone great. Over that span, Portland is averaging 120.3 points per game, well over their season average of 102.5.
On the other side, the Warriors have 48-4 SU and 29-21-2 ATS records. Most recently, Golden State is 7-3 ATS over the last 10 games. The Warriors are the number one overall scoring offense, averaging 115.5 points per game so far. Golden State is the top three-point shooting team in the league, knocking down 671 shots from three-point range (12.0 per game). When it comes to making good decisions with the ball, not many are better than the Warriors. They have one of the top assist-to-turnover ratios in the league at 1.94. The Golden State defense has been a problem for competitors, allowing .430 shooting from the field to its opponents. When it comes to defending the rim, the Warriors are one of the best in the league with an average of 6.3 blocks per game.
Golden State won the last meeting this season between these two teams, bumping its SU record over the last 10 meetings to 8-2. The Warriors also lead the matchup ATS with a record of 8-2.
Predictions: SU Winner – GS
Notes
On average, Portland puts up 105.3 points per home game (ranked ninth). Golden State ranks 26th in points allowed per road game with 106.5.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Portland Trail Blazers are a stellar 16-4. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Golden State Warriors have a losing record of 1-3.
The Portland Trail Blazers have a poor 11-23 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The Golden State Warriors are 47-1 when they hit triple digits.
The Warriors have a defensive rating of 99.9, second-best in the NBA. The Trail Blazers also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 104.9 (ranked seventh).
Golden State beats Portland in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Warriors average 101.8 possessions and 1.134 points per possession, while the Trail Blazers average 97.7 possessions with 1.049 points per possession.
The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking 10th in the league with an EFF% of 50.6%. The Golden State Warriors have an exceptional 12-2 record in games where opponents have a similar or higher EFF%.
The Portland Trail Blazers rank 20th with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.49. The Golden State Warriors have a higher A/TO (1.94), ranking second.
The Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors are two of the top rebounding teams in the NBA. Portland is ranked fifth with 45.9 rebounds per game, and Golden State ranks third with 46.9.
The Golden State Warriors rank 18th in offensive rebounding, while the Portland Trail Blazers rank ninth in defensive rebounding.
On average, the Trail Blazers force a turnover rate of 13.0%. When the Warriors turn over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has an outstanding 31-1 record.
