Puzzling visits disappointing tonight when the 12-12 LA Clippers come to Portland to face the 11-13 Portland Trail Blazers. Portland will be without Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons again, and Nassir Little is questionable to return from his ankle injury.
The Blazers have dropped five of their last six, including losses to bottom-dwellers Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs and are coming off two straight blowout defeats.
The Clippers are still Kawhi Leonard-less, but Paul George has turned the clock back and is averaging 25 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game.
Clippers at Trail Blazers odds, moneyline, and over/under
WynnBet has the Clippers as three point favorites and -150 to win. They’ve set the team over/unders at 109 for Los Angeles and 106 for Portland, and the Blazers are +130 to win.
Given Portland’s lackluster effort over the last couple of weeks, I’m tempted to say just throw every dollar you have at Clipper success and Blazer failure, but these are two erratic and enigmatic squads so things likely aren’t going to work out so obviously.
I do think the Clippers have some defensive answers that Portland is still searching for, and the Lillard-less Blazers have seemed pretty harmless to opponents thus far. So go with the visitors at -3 and at -150 to win.
I also fully expect LA to light up Portland’s matador-esque defense for well past 109 points, so take their team over with confidence. And Thursday’s awful effort against the Spurs aside, even on a bad night the Blazers are usually good for more than 106.
It’s entirely possible that the good Blazers will show up tonight and steal a win from a superior team, but without potentially three of their top seven players, it’s going to be a tall order even for the best version of this Jekyll and Hyde squad.
Picks: Clippers +3/-150, over 109, Portland over 106, game over 215
Clippers at Trail Blazers radio and TV
Tonight’s game tips off at 7:00 PM Pacific time and can be seen locally on Root Sports TV and heard on Rip City Radio AM-620.
Next for Blazers
The Blazers will go on the road, to visit the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center, and likely get another beatdown, on Wednesday, December 8th at 7 PM Pacific Time.