The Portland Trail Blazers will travel to Oakland to face the two-time defending champions Golden State Warriors on Thursday night at the Oracle Arena.
The Blazers are coming off a crushing 96-117 loss to the Utah Jazz while the Warriors are fresh off a Christmas Day 101-127 beating at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers at home.
The defending champions Golden State Warriors can still smell their Christmas Day debacle at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James came to town on December 25th and like the Grinch, he took the Warriors’ Christmas away by leading his Lakers to an upset of the Warriors. Two days later, the Warriors have a chance to erase that loss in the minds of their fans as they try to give their faithful a late Christmas present in the form of a win over the Blazers on Thursday.
Stephen Curry scored 15 points shot just 5-17 against the Lakers and was hounded by foul trouble. Prior to that, Curry was averaging 29 points per game in his previous four games and was making five three pointers per game too. For the season, Curry is averaging 28.6 points per game while hitting an average of five three pointers per game on a 45.8% accuracy. Expect Curry to bounce back from the second lowest scoring game of his season.
The Warriors rank 4th in team scoring at 115.6 points per game. Golden State is the top passing team in the league at 27.6 assists per night. The Dubs rank 11th in rebounding with their 45.7 per game average. The Warriors are 20th in the entire NBA in scoring defense, allowing 111.5 points per game.
Like the Warriors, the Blazers suffered a tough loss on Christmas Day as they were pounded on the road by the Utah Jazz 96-117. The loss was their second to the Jazz in a span of five days and they lost both games by a combined margin of 51 points. The Blazers had a fast start to their season but they have since cooled off. Portland is just 6-4 in their last 10 games played and have fallen down to #6 in the Western Conference team standings at 19-15.
The Blazers are led by their high scoring backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Lillard leads Portland with 26.9 points and 5.8 assists per game. McCollum is the team’s second 20-point scorer at 20.9 points per game. Center Jusuf Nurkic is averaging a double double with 13.9 points and a team-best 10.2 rebounds per game for Portland.
Portland is the 14th highest scoring team in the league at 111.0 points per game. The Blazers also rank 4th in rebounding at 47.9 per game. However, they are only 28th in the league in assists at 21.1 per game and rank 17th in scoring defense at 110.9 points per game allowed.
The Warriors and Blazers have played in a total of 226 regular season games. Portland leads the all-time series 123-103 but the Warriors have won 8 out of their last 10 meetings. The Dubs have also won their last 10 meetings in Oakland.
The Blazers are 4-2 SU in their last six games played. Portland is 6-10 SU in their 16 road games played this season. The Warriors are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played. Golden State is 15-4 SU in 19 home games played so far this season. Head to head, the Warriors are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings.
Portland has won four out of their last six games but in their last four games, they have been held to fewer than 100 points per game. Over that period, the Blazers have also allowed 114.8 points per game. With their defense off lately, that’s going to be a problem against the Golden State Warriors who have the best offensive arsenal in the league during the last four years. It’s hard to stop the Warriors when they are complete. It’s harder to stop the Dubs when they’re coming off a sour loss like they suffered on Christmas Day against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Dubs have not lost back to back games since November 16th. They have not lost back to back home games this season yet. I think Portland is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Christmas Day loss is still sour in the Warriors’ mouth. They’ll be extra motivated to get it out of their system. We’re picking the Golden State Warriors to beat the Portland Trail Blazers on 12/27/18.
The Blazers are 16-18 ATS in 34 games played this season. Portland is 5-11 ATs in 16 road games played so far. The Warriors are 14-21 ATS in 35 games played this season. Golden State is 8-11 ATS in 19 home games played during this campaign. Head to head, the Warriors are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played .
The Warriors have dominated this matchup at Oakland with the Warriors going 22-8 ATS in their last 30 home games against the Blazers. Portland meanwhile is 1-8 ATS in their last nine games played on the road. The Blazers are also 2-10 ATS in their last dozen games after an ATS loss. I’m expecting to see the Warriors pour out their frustration on the Blazers. Prediction: Warriors -9
The over and under are at an even 17-17 in Portland’s 34 games played this season. The total has gone over in 9 out of their 16 road games played. The over is 18-17 in Golden State’s 35 games played this season. The Dubs have seen the under go 11-8 in their 19 home games played this season.
The over is 10-3 in the Warriors’ last 13 Thursday games. The total has also gone over in 11 out of the last 16 meetings between these two teams in Oakland. Forget the Klay Thompson slump. The Warriors are going to bounce back with a vengeance here. It’s going to be a shootout. Prediction: Over 226
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