Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Lakers are 5-1 straight up and 4-2 against the spread in their last six games against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers desperately need a win on Friday night when they face the Trail Blazers on the road.
Los Angeles is an eight-point road underdog on the NBA odds in Portland at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In their last five road games against the Trail Blazers, the Lakers are 5-0 ATS.
Lakers vs Trail Blazers | OddsShark Matchup Report
Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers went about as badly as it could for the Lakers. The team suffered a 118-94 blowout loss to the Clippers and Anthony Davis was held to just nine minutes of play as he was forced to leave the game early with back spasms.
LeBron James has been ruled out for at least the Lakers’ next two games with an ankle injury and Dennis Schroder is still out indefinitely in quarantine; Davis is listed as questionable to return to action against Portland.
The Lakers have performed well on the second night of a back-to-back in recent seasons with a 15-5 SU and 14-6 ATS record in their last 20 such games (how the point spread works).
Portland hit a skid through most of April that saw the team go 2-9 SU and 4-7 ATS over an 11-game stretch including a five-game losing streak from April 18 through April 25. But since then, Portland is 5-1 SU and ATS over its last six games and the offense has been on fire over that stretch averaging 129.2 points per game.
Damian Lillard is averaging 30.8 points per game over his last four games and will be tough for the Lakers to defend if Anthony Davis isn’t at 100%.
Friday night’s total is set at 221.5 points at online betting sites. The UNDER is 5-2 in Portland’s last seven games against the Lakers.
These two teams enter Friday’s matchup with identical 37-29 SU records. Both are hoping to avoid finishing outside of the top six in the Western Conference as the play-in games won’t leave much room for error. This is an especially scary proposition for the Lakers, who are dealing with injuries and haven’t had the chance to get in sync.
Check out OddsShark on Twitter and Instagram or head to YouTube for analysis on this week’s top games. As well, the OddsShark Computer serves up daily NBA picks for bettors.