Despite extended absences for Damian Lillard, Nassir Little, and potentially Norman Powell, the Portland Trail Blazers need to take full advantage of this portion of the schedule. Sitting at 11-10 — a record that has them just 2.5 games ahead of the 11th-seed Sacramento Kings and one game behind the Dallas Mavericks for the fourth-seed — the Blazers play eight of their next nine games at the Moda Center. Considering their current 1-9 mark on the road, it’s obvious that Portland needs to capitalize on this homestand, regardless of who’s on the injury report, with the San Antonio Spurs next on the docket.
San Antonio has been one of the few teams equally as bad on the road as the Blazers, with a current 2-7 standing when playing elsewhere from the AT&T Center.
With Dame out, though, CJ McCollum will have the tall task of trying to score over and through the Spurs multitude of guard clampers, making this possibly a closer contest than initially expected.
Portland Trail Blazers vs San Antonio Spurs (12/02/2021) Betting Guide
WynnBET currently has a 4.5-point spread for this matchup, with the Portland Trail Blazers marked as -200 favorites to win outright.
While the Blazers continue to struggle to find their identity — a burden only exasperated by recent injuries and their ongoing front office turmoil — the Spurs have rattled off a couple of impressive wins behind inspired play from Dejounte Murray. Murray has averaged over 25 points and 10 rebounds, totaling 14 dimes in the last two games, while dismantling the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
Despite the injuries and Dejounte’s hotstreak, the Blazers should be able to handle this Spurs team and their jumbled offense by at least five points tonight.
The Spurs are only listed at +175 to win outright, just not a good enough number to bet the upset here.
Over/Under
The over/under is set at 216, a relatively low number in today’s game. This makes sense when you consider that the Spurs average just a shade over 107 points per game and that the Blazers could be without their first and third-highest scorers.
Despite playing a terrible team in the Detroit Pistons, the CJ-led Blazers only mustered 110 points last time out. This go-around they’ll be facing a much more defensively sound squad in the San Antonio Spurs — who are 15th in defensive rating.
Picks:
Take the Blazers at -4.5 and under 216 for the game.
TV
Tonight’s matchup will be aired nationally on NBATV and ROOT Sports NW for Portland-area viewers.
Next Up
The Blazers get a night’s rest following the Spurs game before taking on the Boston Celtics in Portland on Saturday, December 4 at 7 PM Pacific.