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The Los Angeles Lakers host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Blazers-Lakers prediction and pick.
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The Portland Trail Blazers are really going through it right now. They are (21-30) on the season which puts them 10th in the Western Conference. Portland is coming off of a bad 98-81 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in what was their worst performance of the season. The LA Lakers aren't much better right now, as they are struggling to win games. LA is (24-27) on the year and just one seed higher at nine. If the season ended today, they would play each other in the NBA Play-in game. The Lakers are coming off of a loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Here are the Blazers-Lakers NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Blazers-Lakers Odds
Portland Trail Blazers: +3.5 (-106)
Los Angeles Lakers: -3.5 (-114)
Over: 223 (-112)
Under: 223 (-108)
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Why The Blazers Could Cover The Spread
The biggest reason why the Blazers could cover this spread is because of how depleted the Lakers are at the moment. LeBron James is currently day-to-day with his knee injury and it's unclear when he will return. James is likely to miss this game according to Shams Charania. With that being said, the Blazers certainly have a chance but will need to contain Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. Malik Monk notched 30 points in the loss to the Hawks so the Lakers still have a chance to play very well even without James.
The Blazers are coming off their worst game offensively in years. Scoring just 81 points will never be okay. I mean, the late Kobe Bryant did that in one game alone so it will be hard to ignore that type of outing. CJ McCollum scored 21 in the loss and Norman Powell scored 17. Those were the only two to really show up and the Blazers were forced to play their starters a majority of the game. It will take a much better outing for them to cover this spread because even though the Lakers aren't playing well either, they have Davis healthy again.
Why The Lakers Could Cover The Spread
LA really needs this win. This is a favorable matchup for them as they try and get back on track. LA needs Davis and Westbrook to really go off tonight. Monk has been playing well lately and they need Carmelo Anthony to also play well if they want to cover this spread. LA is better at home than on the road at 15-12 on the season. The Blazers are 7-17 on the road so that is a huge difference. Both teams have losing records against the West this season and these two will meet for the third time this season. The Lakers won the last game 139-106 after James finished with 43 points. Since James is out, someone else will need to be the reason why the Lakers get back on track.
With Damian Lillard out for the Blazers, the Lakers just need to focus on containing McCollum and Powell. Jusuf Nurkic is an elite offensive threat but Davis should be able to handle him for the most part. LA's defense has been picking it up lately but they are still allowing 112 points per game in their last 10 games. Their defense has been the biggest reason for their success in the past and they need that to be the factor once again.
Final Blazers-Lakers Prediction & Pick
Both teams are identical against the spread this year with the Lakers having one extra loss. With each team's best player out tonight, it's tough to really know how they are going to play. The Lakers play better at home and the Blazers play worse on the road, so take the Lakers to cover this short spread.
Final Blazers-Lakers Prediction & Pick: Lakers -3.5 (-114)
