The Trail Blazers (32-24 SU, 27-29 ATS) have lost five of seven and won’t have two of their top stars available when they face one of the NBA’s hottest teams. Los Angeles (40-19, 35-23-1) is 8-1 SU and 7-1-1 ATS in its last nine games and opened as an 8.5-point road favorite.
- Date/Time: April 20, 10 p.m. ET
- Arena: Moda Center
- TV Coverage: TNT
- Sportsbook Odds: Clippers -8.5 | O/U 228.5 (Line History)
- Clippers vs Trail Blazers Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
Los Angeles won the first two meetings this season by an average of 20 points, and another comfortable Clippers victory is projected tonight. LA opened as an 8.5-point favorite, a larger spread than it was favored by in its two games against the Blazers at Staples Center.
Los Angeles News & Notes
Kawhi Leonard returned to the Clippers lineup Sunday after missing four games with a sore right foot, but LA didn’t need much from him to improve to 8-1 SU and 7-1-1 ATS in its last nine games.
The Clips took advantage of Minnesota’s league-worst three-point defense, hitting a season-high 21 triples on the way to a 124-105 victory. Ten of those threes came in the second quarter as LA led by as many as 38 points before taking its foot off the gas down the stretch.
Leonard had 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in just 23 minutes of action, while Paul George added 23 points in 27 minutes, snapping his streak of six straight games with at least 30 points. Four other players also scored in double figures for LA, which is 23-1 SU this season when scoring at least 120 points in a contest.
Portland News & Notes
Already mired in a 2-5 SU and ATS skid in their last seven games, the Trail Blazers will be without both Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic tonight. Lillard has missed Portland’s last two games with a sore hamstring, while Nurkic is sitting out the contest to rest his right knee.
The Trail Blazers are coming off a 109-101 loss Sunday in Charlotte, where they were lit up for 44 first-quarter points by a Hornets team that was without LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward and Devonte’ Graham. Portland allowed Charlotte to hit 10 of its first 11 shots and trailed by 29 points before fighting back to make the final score more respectable.
Carmelo Anthony had 24 points Sunday and CJ McCollum added 22 for Portland, which has scored less than 110 points in three of its last four games. The Trail Blazers have gone UNDER in five of their last six games overall and six of their last seven at home.
Betting Pick: UNDER 228.5
All of Portland’s recent trends point to the UNDER, and the Clippers likely won’t push the pace if they’ve got a big lead in the second half.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- Los Angeles is 8-1 SU and 7-1-1 ATS in its last 9 games.
- Portland is 2-5 SU and ATS in its last 7 games.
- Los Angeles is 5-0 SU and ATS in its last 5 games vs Portland.
