The Portland Trail Blazers will travel to the US Airways Center to take on the Phoenix Suns. The game starts at 10:00 pm ET on Friday, Mar. 27 and will air on CSN-NW and FSN-AZ.
The Suns were beaten by the Kings 108-99 on Wednesday. Markieff Morris was the team’s high scorer, finishing with 24. The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, are coming off a 92-89 win over the Jazz on Wednesday. Damian Lillard played well, posting 23 points and 12 assists to claim his fifth double-double of the season.
The two teams have split their matchups this season. The Trail Blazers had the upper hand in the most recent game, a blowout 108-87 win. Nicolas Batum was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points.
The odds are even for this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is currently unavailable. The Suns enter the game with records of 38-34 Straight Up (SU) and 37-32-3 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 20-23 SU and 18-22-3 ATS versus the Western Conference. Phoenix has averaged 95.0 points per game over the last 10 games, lower than its season average of 104.2. Over their past 10 games, Phoenix’s defense has been playing lights out, only allowing 94.3 points per game, well under their season average of 103.6. Something to watch out for is if Phoenix can force its opponents into turnovers and convert them into baskets. They’ve done an excellent job of that all year with an average of 18.1 points off turnovers per game.
Across the court, Portland has a SU record of 45-25 and an ATS record of 35-34-1. In Western Conference games, Portland has gone 25-16 SU and 21-19-1 ATS. Portland is the top foul-shooting team in the league, hitting .801 of their shots from the line. The Trail Blazers have established a reputation of cleaning up the defensive glass with an NBA-best 35.0 defensive rebounds per game. The Trail Blazers are in for a physical game against Phoenix. The Suns are not afraid to send opponents to the free throw line, averaging 21.8 fouls per game.
Following the Trail Blazers’ latest win over Phoenix, Portland is still behind in the head-to-head record over the past 10 meetings, 3-7 SU. Additionally, with an 8-2 record, the Suns have the advantage ATS. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Phoenix held the edge in all three of these categories twice in the last 10 meetings. Portland did so once.
Predictions: SU Winner – POR, ATS Winner – POR
Notes
Portland ranks 10th in points per game with 102.5, while Phoenix ranks 26th in points allowed with an average of 103.6 given up.
Portland puts up an average of 102.2 points per away game (ranked eighth). Phoenix ranks 25th in points allowed per home game with 102.0.
The Phoenix Suns have a winning record (20-6) when their opponents score fewer than 100 points this season. The Portland Trail Blazers are 11-16 when they don’t hit triple digits.
The Phoenix Suns have a poor 18-28 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The Portland Trail Blazers are 34-9 when they hit triple digits.
The Suns have an offensive rating of 103.6 (ranked 12th). The Trail Blazers rank seventh for their defensive rating of 100.6.
Phoenix averages 100.5 possessions per game, scoring 1.036 points on each possession. While Portland averages fewer possessions per game with 97.6, the team scores more points per possession with 1.050.
The Phoenix Suns have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking eighth in the league with an EFF% of 50.7%. When their opponents record a similar or higher EFF%, the Portland Trail Blazers have a losing 6-12 record.
Phoenix makes an average of 20.4 assists per game (ranked 27th). Portland ranks higher in assists with 21.9 (ranked 12th).
Phoenix makes an average of 4.8 blocks per game (ranked 11th), while Portland makes 4.6 blocks per game (ranked 15th).
The Portland Trail Blazers are the NBA’s best defensive rebounding team. The Phoenix Suns rank 12th in offensive rebounding.
The Suns record 8.7 steals per game on average (ranked sixth). The Trail Blazers are 24-16 when allowing at least 8 steals.
