Early lines are already out for a couple of the Wednesday NBA matchups at the Online betting powerhouses, 5Dimes.
The Bucks rule the East and the Warriors have maintained their recently gotten lead in the West.
The Portland Trail Blazers started super hot and then fell to the bottom of the playoff-worthy. Now, they are back to the 4th place, looking to close the gap on the OKC Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. But, standing in their way on humpday is the Golden State Warriors.
Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Wednesday 10:30 PM ET @ the Moda Center
Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are coming off back to back away losses on Sunday and Monday. They had a heart-breaker in Dallas, losing to the Mavs by just one point and then took a 120 to 111 beating up in Oklahoma City.
It hasn’t been an easy schedule for the Blazers. They face the No.1 team in the West in Rip City before the All-Star Break. After that, they head out on a massive seven-game road stretch where they’ll face the Sixers, the Raptors and the Celtics, before coming home to face the Thunder again.
The Warriors have put on an incredible 16-game run that has led them back to the top of the conference. Golden State gets the Utah Jazz in Oracle Arena on Tuesday night, so they won’t be quite as fresh as the Blazers who get a night off.
Let’s break down the matchup.
The Matchup (GSW -5.5)
Over the last 10 meetings, the Warriors have taken seven games off of the Trail Blazers. The average margin of victory is 116 to 107. However, in the last three games that differential increases to 116-104, even though the Trail Blazers won one of them.
The last time these two teams played was in Portland and Golden State won 115-105. But, in the Portland home game before that, Rip City was victorious 125-108 and in the previous home game Portland won 123-117. So, despite the 7-10 advantage for Golden State, Portland has won three of the last five.
The Warriors have the No. 1 road offense in the league. They are averaging 119.04 points per game on the road. But, Portland’s home offense is not too shabby either. They are dropping 116.29 on opponents in the Moda Center.
What makes this game even more interesting is the road vs. home defense. Golden State is allowing just a hair more on the road than Portland at home, 110.89 vs, 110.36. This puts the likely spread at -3 in favor of the Warriors.
ATS Stats
The Blazers are 60% covering the point spread as the home-dog, 57.1% with a day off and 54.5% after a loss. The Warriors are just 48.1% as the away team and 47.8% as the away favorite. On no rest, their ATS stat plummets to 33.3%.
Given the fact that Portland plays the Warriors tough up in the North West, and the fact that the Warriors have been terrible against the spread this season, I am inclined to lean towards the Blazers to cover 5.5 or 6 points.
NBA Prediction: Take the Blazers to keep this one tight, they may even hand the Warriors a loss.
