Blazers vs Lakers Matchup Odds: Los Angeles Has the Edge

The Portland Trail Blazers travel to Los Angeles on Wednesday night fresh off of a loss to the Clippers on Tuesday. The Blazers were edged 118-112 on their home floor last night and now have to hit the road to face the other LA team. Portland has been struggling lately, dropping four of their last five games. Their only win during that time frame came against the New York Knicks in overtime.

The absence of Damian Lillard and all the NBA injuries are catching up with this team and their ability to score the basketball. The Lakers are coming off of a loss themselves, having dropped a game to the Pacers on a buzzer-beater by Andrew Nembhard.

Los Angeles is 3-2 in their last five games with all three wins coming against the San Antonio Spurs. The Blazers vs Lakers matchup odds opened at Lakers -5.5 and hasn’t moved. The total opened at 226 but has moved down ever so slightly to 225.

Game Information

We start our Blazers vs Lakers matchup odds preview by taking a look at Portland’s offense as of late. After what was a great start to the season, the Blazers offense has taken a turn for the worse and has only continued to struggle in their last few outings. Portland has failed to surpass the 100-point mark in two of their last four games. Their offense rating has dropped to 17th in the league after being in the top 10 in the month of October.

However, it’s not just their lack of scoring that has led to their recent struggles. Their defense, which was also ranked in the top 10 in October, has been awful over their last five games. They own the second-worst defensive rating during that span, giving up an average of 121.1 points per 100 possessions.

If Portland’s defense doesn’t turn things around for Wednesday night’s game, it’s going to be hard for them to cover the Blazers vs Lakers matchup odds as 5.5-point underdogs. Anthony Davis is playing his best basketball of the season right now, averaging 29.6 points and 14.2 rebounds over his last nine games.

The Lakers are ranked fourth in the league in points in the paint and Davis should be able to get whatever he wants inside. Especially being the Blazers rank 19th at defending in the paint.

The Lakers also have the edge when it comes to rest advantage being they’re not on a back-to-back and didn’t have to do any traveling after their last game. Los Angeles has also performed well this season with a rest advantage, covering the spread 57% of the time in those situations.

The Lakers still aren’t a team that we’ve seen climb up the board in terms of odds to win championship, but they’ve steadily improved as the season has gone on and especially since they made the move to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench. Therefore, our favorite play is for Los Angeles to cover the Blazers vs Lakers Matchup Odds as 5.5-point favorites.
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