NBA: LA Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The LA Clippers will host their conference rivals, the Portland Trail Blazers, on Tuesday night. In the past few years, the two sides were bitter rivals, so this should be an interesting matchup. They have a similar record, and are close to one another in the West standings. We’ve expected to see a bit better start for the Clippers, while on the other side, the Trail Blazers are at .500-mark, which is something realistic for this unit. They had certain turbulences this summer, but the important thing is that Damian Lillard stayed in Oregon.

Preview

Portland Trail Blazers (5-5, +145) improved their morale with back-to-back wins at the Moda Center, defeating the Indiana Pacers and the LA Lakers. After several defeats in a row, this was what the Blazers needed.

Even though the Lakers appeared without LeBron, a 105-90 win over them can’t be diminished. They had AD, Westbrook, Melo, etc. Though, Davis did play for just seven minutes. Overall, the most important thing fr this win was Portland’s good defense, as they limited the Lakers to just 34.4% of shooting from the field.

The Blazers weren’t much better, with 37.9%, but in the end, it was Damian Lillard who provided the difference with 25 points, 18 of them from three-point territory. SC McCollum had only seven, hitting one three in 10 tries. Nurkic was fantastic with 15 points and 17 boards. He is slowly becoming one of the most reliable centers in the NBA.

LA Clippers (5-5, -175) had a very slow start but managed to find the groove in the recent seven days, winning four matches during that period. They defeated OKC Thunder at staples, then played back-to-back games in Minneapolis with the T-Wolves, beating the hosts on both occasions, before routing the Hornets at home, 120-106.

They are still without Kawhi, but in recent times, the LAC players have begun to play well and realize how to win even with the best player on the sidelines. Like during the previous year, the key is in three-point shots. The Clippers have a high output in this aspect of play, and the contest against the Hornets proved that, as they hit 18 downtown shots.

Terance Mann and Luke Kennard combined for 35 points off the bench, with Mann scoring 17 points and 10 boards, while Kennard added 18 buckets all from behind the arc. Paul George had 20 with nine rebounds and eight assists, Reggie Jackson 19. The two combined 5-for-21 shooting for three.

Head to Head Games

Each team had a win last year, using the home-court advantage.

Prediction

The line for the total number of points is set at 222.5. Both teams are playing offensive-minded basketball with plenty of action. We should see a higher number of points than proposed because both these teams tend to get wild once meeting a similar rival and put offense before any defensive assignments. It wouldn’t be odd to see 100 three-point attempts because of the Blazers and the Clippers’ high shooting volume. All in all, in our opinion, is that the only logical solution for this matchup is to bet on Over.

Pick: Over 225.5 points

Here is the preview of the Atlanta Hawks vs. Utah Jazz game.