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The Clippers vs. Trailblazers line had Portland as the -3.5 favorite in Thursday night’s late NBA game. All odds courtesy of Sportsbook.com.
The Clippers aim for their fourth straight win and seventh victory in their past eight games when they travel to Portland on Thursday night. The Trail Blazers have also won three consecutive games, although their opponents have three of the four worst records in the NBA (New Jersey, Minnesota and Sacramento).
The Clippers are only 3-12 SU on road, but rank 10th in the league with an 8-6-1 ATS road mark. In Wednesday’s 126-111 win over Minnesota, Blake Griffin was two rebounds short of extending his team-record 27 straight double-doubles. He averaged 25.4 PPG and 13.8 RPG during the streak. Griffin scored an NBA-season-high 47 points with 14 rebounds in the prior game Monday against Indiana, a 114-107 victory. Eric Gordon has also been on fire with 26.1 PPG and 20-of-42 three-pointers in his past seven games. Gordon was forced out of Wednesday’s game after injuring the tendon in his right finger, but he returned to the court and is expected to start on Thursday.
Although the Blazers have won four straight meetings with L.A., including a 100-91 home win on Dec. 5, the turnover margin could be a big factor in this game. The Clippers lead the NBA with a +2.7 margin, while Portland is second-worst in the league with a minus-2.3 differential. The Blazers are 24th in NBA in scoring at 95.9 PPG and their defense has surrendered 100.5 PPG over the past six games. LaMarcus Aldridge is a big reason for Portland’s three-game winning streak though, averaging 27.0 PPG and 10.2 RPG in January. However, he scored a season-low four points on 2-of-10 shooting in the December win over Los Angeles. Portland has been missing its best player, Brandon Roy, for a while due to knee surgery, and now it will have to play without Marcus Camby for an indefinite period of time after discovering he has a partially torn meniscus in his left knee.
With Camby unavailable to guard Griffin, he is due for another monster night. Majority of bettors at Sportsbook.com feel that way as well, as the Clippers are presently getting 70% of action on spread.
