NBA Betting Picks – San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers
The annual rodeo road trip has gotten off to a bumpy start for the San Antonio Spurs.
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The likelihood of them beating the Warriors on Wednesday night was slim to begin with, but when LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan didn’t suit up, they had no chance. The Spurs got whacked, 141-102, by the defending champions, dropping the first two games of the yearly excursion. Stop No. 3 on the eight-game roadie comes on Thursday with a visit to the Portland Trail Blazers, who are looking to get back in the win column after losing to Miami the last time out.
San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers
Date and Time: Thursday, February 7, 2019, 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Moda Center, Portland, OR
Opening NBA Odds: Trail Blazers -4, O/U 227.5
Spurs at Trail Blazers TV Coverage: TNT
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Odds Analysis
The toughest game on the trip might be out of the way, but the Spurs still have their work cut out for them. They lost for the second time to start their rodeo trip, falling in crushing style to the Warriors. That came after San Antonio saw its five-game winning streak end in Sacramento two nights earlier.
Though they won five in a row prior to hitting the road, the Spurs have been a mess at the betting window. Losing by 39 points to the Dubs was their fifth straight loss against the spread, which is troubling for a team that was 31-19-1 ATS before that slide. More concerning is the Spurs usual stifling defense has been non-existent. They’ve surrendered 268 points in the last two games and an average of 121 points per game over their past eight.
Most teams enjoy a little break in the middle of a hectic season. The Blazers enjoyed their extended layoff a little too much. Taking five days off after routing the Jazz 132-105, the Blazers looked sluggish in falling behind Miami on Tuesday. They got going in the fourth quarter, however it was too little too late as their eight-game home winning streak ended. The season series has been dominated by the home team. Portland won by 13 points when the clubs met for the first time back in October. The Spurs returned the favor with a 131-118 victory in early December.
Spurs
I guess Gregg Popovich didn’t think his team had much of a chance to beat the Warriors. Why else would you sit your top two scorers and best players? Without Aldridge and DeRozan, who were rested in the first game of a back-to-back set, the Spurs suffered their fourth loss by 30 or more points this season. Both will be back in the lineup against the Blazers, and the other starters should be rested as well after getting yanked early in the blowout in Oakland.
This is a homecoming for Aldridge, who played the first nine years of his career in Portland. He had some huge moments as a Blazer and that’s continued during his stay in Texas. He trails DeRozan by a tenth of a point for the team scoring lead and has dropped at least 20 in the last six games he’s played. He’s shooting what would be a season career-best 51.5 percent from the floor, picking up the slack for DeRozan, who is shooting 46.4 percent from the field and a paltry 17.1 percent from behind the arc.
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Trail Blazers
Now that the fun and games are over it’s time for the Blazers to get back to work. The layoff screwed with everything and it showed in the loss to Miami on Tuesday. They looked out of sync for much of the game and got little production from the guy who needs to produce the most for the team to be successful. Coming off one of his better games of the year when he narrowly missed his first career triple double with 36 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds against the Jazz, Damian Lillard followed that by matching a season-low for points with 13 in the loss to Miami.
His backcourt mate C.J. McCollum did his best with seven three-pointers and 33 points, but the other starters managed just 16 points combined. Reserve Jake Lyman tallied 25 points. We should see the newest Blazer in this game with Rodney Hood expected to play. Hood is a solid wing player and will help the team defensively while adding points when necessary. He also gives the team a dimension it’s been lacking.
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Pop was lived over his team’s defensive effort against the Dubs, but most coaches are. This is nothing new for the Spurs, though, as they’ve allowed at least 140 points four times this year. Dame is salivating over playing against a team struggling to defend. Lillard rarely strings together poor outings and even a rested Aldridge and DeRozan won’t be able to make up the difference.
NBA Score Prediction: Blazers 113, Spurs 105
