Portland Trail Blazers vs Golden State Warriors betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA game at Moda Center. It’s the 2nd meeting of the regular season between the Warriors and Trail Blazers as they lock horns tonight in Portland. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Portland Trail Blazers
All the good things the Blazers had done over the last couple of weeks were ruined by their last 2 games, losses against the Bulls and Bucks. The defense just wasn’t up to the task in either of those two games as they allowed 129 and 127 points.
Damian Lillard continued to play well, he’s still averaging 35.7 points per game in his last 10 outings, he had a pretty solid 34-point game in the first meeting of the season vs Golden State, so look for him to get going early in tonight’s game. Portland hasn’t had a pleasant experience against the Warriors lately, they’ve got just 1 win in the last 6 meetings. Pacific Division teams in general have done well against this team, the Blazers are without a win in 5 such games in a row.
Golden State Warriors
Losing Stephen Curry for a few weeks will be another blow to the title defense ambitions of the Warriors, but then again it might also be a blessing in disguise. In their first game without him, the Warriors destroyed the OKC Thunder thanks to a huge night from Klay Thompson who scored 12 threes. As a team the Warriors finished with 26 made, while shooting 57% from the field and 52% from three.
The question is can they repeat that performance tonight? Without Jusuf Nurkic in the middle for Portland, Golden State will have a free path to the basket here, so they might not even have to make all those threes to win this game. In the last 6 meetings the Warriors have covered the spread 4 times.
Injuries are starting to take a toll, both teams have been affected by that. The absence of Curry is bigger in my opinion, so I feel like Portland has a chance here. They’re 3.5 point favorites, I think Lillard and co. are strong enough to pull this one out in front of the home fans. Take Portland.
Portland Trail Blazers vs Golden State Warriors Predictions & Odds
With the Warriors going over the total in 15 of their last 17 road games, you’d think the oddsmakers would set a higher projected total than the 231.5 points we’re seeing here. The last 5 games for both teams have all gone over that number, and I’m expecting that trend to continue tonight as well.
Playing the 4th fastest pace in the NBA has it’s advantages, and against a team that ranks only 26th in defensive efficiency the Warriors offense will flourish. The problem is, Lillard also plays well in these type of games where there isn’t much defensive pressure present from either side. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went for 40 points here, but all in all both teams should fill it up tonight so let’s back the points.
