Lakers vs. Trail Blazers Free NBA Picks and Odds Analysis (Archive)
The Portland Trail Blazers may be in the midst of a sell-off before the trade deadline, but they have one more game on Wednesday before that as they welcome in the Los Angeles Lakers. Which way to lean at the top-rated sportsbooks?
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Wednesday, February 09, 2022 – 10:00 PM EST at Moda Center
Blazers Rebuild Continues
A few days ago, when the Blazers traded Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers, the white flag was being rigged onto the flag pole.
Now that C.J. McCollum is headed to New Orleans, the flag is completely up the pole now.
The Blazers entered a crossroads to start this season and after a slow start complete with injuries to their best players, the Blazers had no choice but to get some assets back in return for their best players who are mostly on expiring contracts.
While trading Damian Lillard is still on the table, the Blazers have shipped out most of the remaining contracts they had as they head towards the offseason, so they will have ample cap space to start their rebuild or, attempt to sign a star to pair with Lillard.
That being said, they are going to be short-handed, to say the least, tonight and while the Lakers aren’t the prolific road defense as they are at home, the Blazers aren’t going to be hard to guard tonight as they play on no rest.
As long as Anfernee Simons or Jusuf Nurkić don’t go for 40 tonight, LA should have no problem holding this team to less than 105 points, or possibly 100.
I’ve played the under game when the Blazers first started getting hurt back in 2021 and even with the potential for their defense to give up a lot of points tonight, the Lakers are not that scary on the road offensively.
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The Sharp Pick
The Lakers average only 107.3 points per 100 possessions on the road this season, which ranks 21st in the NBA.
Over their last nine road games, the Lakers are still averaging less than 110 points per 100 possessions and they are 2-7 SU over that stretch.
The Blazers on the other hand are starting to rev up the engines in their tank and the trades are just the tip of the spear.
Portland is averaging just 95.9 points per 100 possessions over their last five games, which ranks last in the league.
Portland isn’t much better lately at home and over their last 10 games, they still rank 29th in offensive rating.
If the Lakers just play average defense tonight, that will be all it takes to cash the under here for our NBA picks. If Portland’s ceiling is 105 points, their floor may be 90 tonight, which would make the under 224 at the NBA odds an incredible value.
Portland is coming off a back-to-back, so that is somewhat concerning, but what hurts their defense will also hurt their offense tonight.
Portland also plays much slower when playing on the second night of a back-to-back. The Lakers will want to speed them up, but with Portland averaging a pace of just over 97 possessions per game on no rest, if their offense is as bad as I think it will be tonight, they aren’t getting over 100 against the Lakers.
NBA Pick: Under 224 (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
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