The Portland Trail Blazers (15-23) welcome the Golden State Warriors (33-2), the league’s top team, to the Moda Center. The game gets underway at 10:00 pm ET on Friday, Jan. 8 and will air on GS2 and CNW.
The Trail Blazers were beaten by the Clippers 109-98 on Wednesday. Mason Plumlee had a good game for Portland, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. The Warriors, meanwhile, are coming off a 109-88 win over the Lakers on Tuesday. Klay Thompson led the game in scoring with 36 points on 12-for-22 shooting.
Over the last five games, Draymond Green and Thompson have been on a tear for the Warriors. During that stretch, Green has averaged 14.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.2 blocks, and 1.8 three-pointers. Not to be outdone, Thompson has put up 28.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 blocks, and 4.2 three-pointers.
The Trail Blazers are a heavy eight-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 214 points. The Trail Blazers are looking to improve on their records of 15-23 Straight Up (SU) and 19-19 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 13-14 SU and 15-12 ATS versus the Western Conference.
On the other side, Golden State has a SU record of 33-2 and an ATS record of 20-13-2. Golden State has records of 21-1 SU and 15-6-1 ATS against the West. They sport the top-ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging 113.7 points per game. The Warriors are an excellent long-range shooting team with an NBA-best 442 three-point shots made (12.0 per game). The Warriors rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league at 1.87. Switching gears to Golden State’s defense, teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Warriors, who are the second-best team in the league in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .425. They average 6.6 blocks per game, good for third in the league.
This is the first meeting of the season for the conference rivals. The last time they played Golden State came out on top, moving its SU record against the Trail Blazers to 8-2 in their last 10 head-to-head meetings. Additionally, with a 7-3 record, the Warriors have the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – GS, ATS Winner – GS, O/U – Under
Notes
Portland is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Portland’s last 9 games at home.
Portland is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Golden State.
Portland is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Golden State.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games when playing Golden State.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Portland’s last 6 games when playing at home against Golden State.
Portland is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Golden State.
Ranked 18th, Portland scores 100.8 points per game. On the other hand, Golden State gives up 101.8 and also ranks 18th (in points allowed).
Portland allows 101.4 points at home this season. Topping the league in road scoring, Golden State scores 114.8 points in away games.
When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Trail Blazers are 9-4 on the season. When the Warriors score fewer than 100, they are a losing 1-2.
When Portland gives up at least 100 points, the team has an underachieving 6-19 record. In games where it hits triple digits, Golden State has a perfect 32-0 record.
The Warriors have a defensive rating of 98.9, third-best in the NBA. The Trail Blazers also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 103.5 (ranked 12th).
With 97.4 possessions and 1.035 points per possession, the Portland Trail Blazers perform worse on both metrics than the Golden State Warriors. Golden State averages 101.3 possessions and 1.123 points per possession.
Ranked first in the NBA, Golden State has an average effective field goal percentage of 55.8%. Portland has not won a game this season when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage (0-8).
The Portland Trail Blazers rank 23rd with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.39. The Golden State Warriors have a higher A/TO (1.87), ranking second.
The Trail Blazers are among the top NBA teams when it comes to rebounding, ranking fifth with 45.8 per game. On the other side, the Warriors also rebound at a high rate, with a rank of fourth (46.8 per game).
The Golden State Warriors rank 10th in offensive rebounding, while the Portland Trail Blazers rank ninth in defensive rebounding.
On average, the Trail Blazers force a turnover rate of 12.0%. When the Warriors turn over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a dazzling 26-2 record.
