The Blazers are playing the second of back-to-back games after an exhausting loss in Salt Lake City, while the Lakers are looking for a second win in a row. With plenty of picks and markets to choose from, don’t waste your time and join the action at Get More Sports.
Lakers at Trail Blazers
Spread: Portland Trail Blazers -8 (-101) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: Over/Under 210.5 (-105)
The Lakers are hoping for the first win over Portland since 2014
The Los Angeles Lakers ended a two-game losing run with a 113:93 victory over the Detroit Pistons, and that was their third win of the season, which should be considered as a good start of the campaign. However, the Lakers lost 13 consecutive matches against Portland, and it’s one of the longest losing streaks in their history, so there is no doubt they will be highly motivated to make an upset in Oregon.
Los Angeles already had 13 points lead at the halftime against Detroit, and they won all four quarters thanks to excellent 49.5% from the field, and 46.2% from the perimeter (12-26). The Lakers dominated in other segments such as rebounds (53-44), assists (30-21), and steals (9-7), but the interesting thing is that the Pistons attempted only three free throws, scoring just one. That is the fewest number of attempted free-throws since Cleveland (2) vs. Golden State on November 26th, 1994. Julius Randle led the Lakers with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Kyle Kuzma added 16 points and six boards in 20 minutes off the bench, and the rookie continues with great displays early in the season. Larry Nance recorded his third double-double of the campaign with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals, while Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed with 13 points apiece. Ball surprisingly had a game-high two blocks, while Ingram added a game-high four thefts, so it was an all-around performance from the Lakers who had seven different players in double digits. Another quiet night from Brook Lopez, who is playing a lot smaller role than expected in L.A., averaging just 11.4 ppg and 4.7 rpg (both career lows), but he should bounce back on Thursday. Caldwell-Pope could play the vital part in this tilt and matchup with C.J. McCollum, and Kentavious’ defense on Portland’s shooting guard might be the key to a win.
Luke Walton is happy to be without injury-related concerns as all the players are healthy and eager to end the horrible run against the Blazers finally. The Lakers are scoring 103.43 points per contest on average (19th in the NBA), while they are allowing 106.57 points in return (18th in the NBA). They are the 7th in the rebounding segment, while no team allowed a fewer percentage of free-throws to the opposition than the Lakers- 70.23%.
Place: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Date/Time: Thursday, November 2nd, 2017, 10:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: SPORTSNET ONE; TNT-SAP
The Blazers are heading back home after Wednesday’s tough loss at Utah
The Portland Trail Blazers are in a hot and cold form thus far in the season, recording four wins and four losses, and the most recent one to the Jazz in Salt Lake is particularly painful as they fell short in overtime, losing 103:112. One thing could console them – the fact that the Lakers didn’t beat them in the previous 13 encounters, and that they have a run to extend, so the Blazers will surely have that in mind when Los Angeles comes to town.
The Blazers were dreadful from beyond the arc (9-34), while the Jazz hit four threes more, and that pretty much decided the otherwise well-balanced clash. Damian Lillard led Portland with a near triple-double performance of 33 points (12-27 FG, 4-15 3PT, 5-5 FT), ten rebounds, eight assists, and five turnovers. He missed the proper support from his backcourt colleague C.J. McCollum who scored just 16 points due to awful 6-20 from the field. C.J. did record ten boards (his first double-double of the campaign), but committed six turnovers, while Jusuf Nurkic had strong double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, along with game-high three rejections. Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless didn’t have a particularly good role in the offense, while Evan Turner played very well on defense, leading the game with four steals, along with six boards, and a blocked shot. The Blazers must feel exhausted after 53 minutes of playing in Salt Lake City, and some of the players could underperform on Thursday, so the Lakers could have an excellent opportunity to exploit Portland’s tiredness and finally get a victory. Lillard will face rookie Ball in a matchup of the point guards, while McCollum struggles could continue against Caldwell-Pope, who is known as a good defender, who will sacrifice his contribution to the offense in order to stay focused on defensive tasks if he must. Nurkic will battle with Brook Lopez under the rims, and although I believe Nurkic will post more rebounds than the former Net, Lopez is a better shooter, and it will be difficult for Jusuf to guard him.
Terry Stotts is without C.J. Wilcox (knee), Meyers Leonard (right ankle), and Wade Baldwin IV (right thumb) and they will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks, so Stotts doesn’t expect them to be back before December. The Blazers are scoring 107.57 points per contest on average (9th in the NBA), while they are allowing 98.29 points in return (5th in the NBA). They are among the top five teams when it comes to three-point shooting (2nd), free-throws (4th), and rebounds (2nd). Portland is limiting opponents to 43.03% from the field (4th in the NBA), 30.99% from the perimeter (3rd), 71.94 from the free-throw line (3rd), and 41.00 rebounds per game (3rd).
Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers Trends & Prediction
The Lakers are 3-4 against the spread (1-1 away), while they are 2-5 on over/under (1-1 away), but I believe they can pose a threat to the hosts and I believe Los Angeles will not be blown away. That being said, I am backing Lakers to not lose by more than eight points, but I am not sure whether they can reach triple digits, so I am undecided when it comes to over/under.
The Blazers are 4-4 against the spread (1-3 home), while they are 2-5 on over/under (1-3 home), so they already knew to surprise when a bunch of points was expected, and that’s why I opted not to play over/under here. However, Portland only once won with the spread at home, and I don’t think they will do it here, so I am backing the Lakers to put up a fight.
My Pick: Los Angeles +8 (-112)
Total: Pass
