The Portland Trail Blazers (11-10) will face off with the Los Angeles Lakers (7-12) Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. The Blazers come into tonight’s game on a two-game losing streak after losing to the Clippers on Tuesday night 118-112. The Lakers had won five out of its last six before a tough loss to the Pacers on Monday 116-115. This column will highlight Blazers-Lakers predictions and picks, highlighting Lebron James and Anthony Davis . Be sure to visit the OddsShopper tool for more NBA best bets and odds.
NBA Odds: Blazers-Lakers Odds
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This line opened Lakers -5.5 , and the line has stayed around -5.5 or -6.0. The total opened 226 and has moved down to 225. Portland is still without its best player, Damian Lillard who has missed the last five games with a calf injury. Bettors should head to DraftKings Sportsbook to tail the following Blazers-Lakers predictions.
Blazers Continue to Struggle without Dame
The Blazers started off 10-5 and looked like a team that was going to contend in the Western Conference. But they have lost six out of their last seven games and five of those have been without their best player, Damian Lillard who is nursing a calf injury. The recent 1-6 skid has been against some tough competition on the road (Bucks, Cavs, Knicks, Nets) so it is understandable. But they will continue to struggle until Lillard returns which is expected to be Sunday December 4th.
Picking up the slack for Lillard has been Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant and Jusef Nurkic, but the 26.3 points per game that Dame gives the Blazers is too much of a void to overcome. Adding in that the Blazers are on the second part of a back-to-back which will play into the Lakers’ hands.
The Blazers have been outscored 116.9 – 109.7 (-7.2 point differential) in their last seven games with a 2-5 record against the spread.
Lakers Starting to Turn Around after Slow Start
The Lakers got off to a dreadful 2-10 start before going 5-2 over their last seven. But context is the key, and look at their opponents they beat (Nets, Pistons, Spurs x3). They are 25th in adjusted offense, 10th in adjusted defense, and 25th overall. At best with Lebron and AD healthy this is a .500 team. The Lakers have issues with age, health, and depth along with being near the bottom of the league in 3-point shooting. But this is a great spot for the Lakers as they are at home against a team missing their best player who played the night before.
One interesting trend is the Lakers are 9-2 against the spread in the first half. The narrative makes sense because they are a veteran team with no depth, so they have fresh legs in the first half before they get tired in the second half.
Final Blazers-Lakers Prediction & Pick
Laying -5.5 points on the Lakers looks crazy at first glance considering their body of work, but when you consider the spot (home, healthy, opponent on back-to-back, best player out), it makes sense. The first half trend on the Lakers holds merit because it has been for the whole season and 9-2 against the spread.
Final Blazers-Lakers Prediction: Lakers 1H -2.5 (-130)
Additional Blazers-Lakers Pick: Lakers -5.5 (DraftKings -110)
