NBA Betting May 7, 2021 – Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers

The Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers will both be playing after the regular season concludes. We just don’t know if they’ll be in the top-six or in the play-in tournament. LA and Portland are two of three teams vying for the final two playoff spots with the club missing out being relegated to the play-in. That puts a little more emphasis on this matchup with the shorthanded Lakers also playing the second game of a back-to-back.  Bookmaker.eu offers a generous welcome bonus (max bonus $1600).

Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers
Date and Time: Friday, May 7, 2021, 10 p.m. ET
Location: Moda Center, Portland, OR
Opening NBA Odds: (Check Back Later)
Lakers at Trail Blazers TV Coverage: ESPN

Odds Analysis

After losing three straight and six of seven to fall into the play-in conversation, the Lakers got a boost with a payout win over the Nuggets on Monday night. That also put an end to a stretch where they were 0-6-1 ATS. Backing the Lakers has been risky lately and they are expected to be without LeBron James again after he reinjured his ankle in a loss to Toronto. A good sign is that their win over Denver came in the second game of a back-to-back with Davis stepping up. The Lakers are 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS in the second game of their last five back-to-back sets. A late surge has the Blazers on the cusp of entering the top-six. Following a stretch where they lost five in a row and seven of eight, Portland is playing good ball at the right time. They’ve won five of six going 5-1 ATS coming in behind an offense that’s averaging over 129 points in that span. Not surprisingly the OVER is 5-1 in those games.

Los Angeles Lakers
Losing your two best players can have an impact on the overall record. The Lakers know that all too well. Once sitting atop the Western Conference and the entire NBA, injuries to Anthony Davis and LeBron James sent them into a free fall. Entering their Valentine’s Day matchup in Denver the Lakers were 21-6 looking poised for championship repeat. Then AD went down with LeBron following a few weeks later. Since that time the Lakers are 16-22 SU and 16-21-1 ATS. Even the return of LeBron and AD didn’t help their cause. With both back in the lineup last week, the Lakers dropped a pair of games to Sacramento and Toronto where they were a double-digit favorite in both.

James sat out the last half of the fourth quarter against the Raptors after tweaking his ankle. It was just his second game back after a six-week absence. Dennis Schroeder is also on the shelf for the shorthanded Lakers as they look to avoid falling into seventh place in the standings. That would mean a spot in the play-in tournament, something that was unheard of just a few months ago. The good news is that AD is rounding into form. He had his best game since returning from a two-month absence scoring 25 points with a key block late in the fourth quarter to help down the Nuggets.

Portland Trail Blazers

After losing all four games on a recent homestand the Blazers season was hanging in the balance with a six-game road trip on the docket. They responded they way good teams do by winning five of the six contests. The only setback came in Atlanta when the club was evacuated from its hotel due to a tornado warning. They lost that game 123-114 despite 33 points from Damian Lillard. The Blazers finished off the trip two days later posting their highest point total this season in a 141-105 romp over Cleveland. The offense was clicking on the trip producing at least 128 points five times while averaging 129.1 points.

Lillard has emerged from a slump to pace the group. He’s scored at least 32 points in three of his last four games connecting on 54 percent of his field goals and 53.5 percent of his three-point attempts. “We’re playing our best at the right time. We’ve had our ups and downs, but the feeling around our team is much better now. We were kind of searching for a while, but everything just clicked and came together,” Lillard said.

Bet Lakers at Trail Blazers at BookMaker.eu

With both teams looking to avoid the dreaded seventh-seed in the conference this game will have a playoff-like fell to it. It’s a touch spot for the Lakers, who tussled with the Clippers the night before then had to travel. And being shorthanded isn’t going to help. With Lillard and the rest of the Blazers seemingly dialed in, I have to back the home team in this one.

NBA Score Prediction: Trail Blazers 109, Lakers 105

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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com