The Los Angeles Clippers travel to Oregon to play their third game of the season against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Clippers-Blazers prediction and pick.
The Clippers hold a record of 40-19 overall and 35-23-1 against the spread. Los Angeles is coming off a blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Blazers stand at 32-24 overall and 27-29 against the spread. Portland is coming off a loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Clippers-Blazers odds.
NBA Odds: Clippers-Blazers Odds
Los Angeles Clippers -7 (-114)
Portland Trail Blazers +7 (-106)
Over 223.5 Points (-110)
Under 223.5 Points (-110)
Why The Clippers Could Cover The Spread
In recent history, the Clippers have dominated the Blazers. L.A. has won five straight matchups, and the average margin of victory has been just over 14 points.
The Clips also are a much hotter team than the Blazers at the moment and the NBA odds for this matchup reflect that. Ty Lue's group is 7-2-1 against the spread in their last ten, while the Blazers are only 4-6. Portland has only covered once in their last four games, and it took a monster comeback in San Antonio to salvage that win.
Additionally, the Blazers will be without two of their best players tonight as Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic will sit out.
Portland wins games on the offensive end, and losing their top scorer and second best offensive rebounder is a killer.
The Clippers already allow the fifth least amount of points in the league. They also lock down the three-point line, holding opponents to the seventh lowest overall percentage.
This is a terrible matchup for Portland, who gets a whopping 40.6% of their points from beyond the arc. Without Dame, the Blazers could be handicapped early as the Clips run up the numbers against their porous defense.
Why The Blazers Could Cover The Spread
The Blazers are missing two huge players, but the Clippers have absences of their own. Serge Ibaka and Patrick Beverley are still out, and even though neither Paul George or Kawhi Leonard are on the injury report, it wouldn't be a surprise to see one of the two sit even though the current NBA odds for this game reflect it.
The Clippers are playing the first of a back-to-back set, and they frequently rest one of their stars when these situations arise. Unfortunately, we probably won't have an exact idea of the Clippers lineup until about an hour before start.
Even if both of the Clippers stars play, this isn't a guaranteed win for Los Angeles.
The Clips have played excellent perimeter defense all season, but they've been shot out of games by teams that launch threes. Against teams that shoot 14 threes or more per game, the Clippers are a mediocre 6-5.
The Blazers best hope tonight is to turn this in to a track meet and do what they do best: launch the three-ball.
The good news for Blazers backers is that they are more than capable of dropping a boatload of points quickly on an opponent. They shoot the second most threes in the league and hold the seventh highest percentage from deep in the NBA.
Final Clippers-Blazers Prediction & Pick
The Blazers have limited experience with spreads of this size. They've only been 7+ point underdogs twice all season, and went 1-1 ATS. I tend to believe this game will be similar to their matchup against the Bucks, a sharpshooting team full of perimeter threats like the Clippers. The Blazers lost that matchup by 28. While I think Portland makes this one a little closer, I don't see them keeping it competitive all game with both Lillard and Nurkic sitting. Clippers by double digits.
FINAL PICK: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS -7: LAC 118, POR 106
Follow Us
Subscribe