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Monday night will showcase a western conference battle between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers. It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Clippers-Blazers prediction and pick based on Clippers Blazers odds.
Paul George is running the show in Los Angeles as Kawhi Leonard is still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last season. He's 10th in the NBA in scoring at 25.1 points per game and doing his best to keep the Clippers right at or above .500. They are 12-12 heading into the Portland matchup. The Clippers are already playing the Blazers for the fourth time this season! It hasn't even been a week of December yet! The Clippers are up 2-1 on the year and will look to win the season series Monday night.
The Blazers are 11-13 on the year but are just 6-9 in conference play. They are without Damian Lillard for an uncertain amount of time and so the Blazers are going to be relying on CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, and Dennis Smith Jr. to fill in for Lillard. The Blazers lost 145-117 to the Boston Celtics on Saturday and saw those three names lead the team. The defense needs to step up big time if the Blazers are going to compete without Lillard.
Here is how FanDuel set the Clippers-Blazers line for Monday night.
NBA Odds: Clippers-Blazers Odds
Los Angeles Clippers: -3 (-110)
Portland Trail Blazers: +3 (-110)
Over: 215.5 (-110)
Under: 215.5 (-110)
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Why The Clippers Could Cover The Spread
Both of these teams are not playing well lately. The Clippers are just 3-7 in their last 10 games and the Blazers are 5-5. Each side is missing their star player and so this matchup isn't going to be as exciting to watch as usual. The Clippers are still the favorite despite their poor play over the last few weeks. If the Clippers are going to cover this spread then they are really going to need to run up the score. The Blazers' defense looked non-existent in their loss to the Celtics and the Clippers need to take advantage of that. George, Reggie Jackson, and Terrence Man are going to have to play well offensively. The Clippers are still a great defensive team and I think that might be the factor in this game, especially without Lillard.
Why The Blazers Could Cover The Spread
These next few weeks or months are going to be extremely difficult for the Blazers. Lillard's presence is almost impossible to replace and unless they trade for someone, then they won't win many games. This comes at a bad time because the Western Conference is very competitive. It sounds simple, but if the Blazers are going to cover this spread then they will need to contain George and force him to take tough shots. With the lack of talent in this game, if the Blazers can shut down George then they will be right in this game. Their defense is the weak spot of the team and it's one they desperately need to improve. There isn't anyone else on the Clippers besides Jackson that can catch fire so shutting down George is the key to this game.
Final Clippers-Blazers Prediction & Pick
This is a tricky one to choose because of how poorly each team is playing. I'm going to take the Clippers to cover and win the game in a close one. George and Jackson are really the only two scoring threats for LA but I don't think the Blazers will contain them.
Final Clippers-Blazers Prediction & Pick: Clippers -3 (-110)
