The Portland Trail Blazers (2-1) visit the Los Angeles Clippers (3-1) Wednesday at the Staples Center for a 10 p.m. ET tip-off. Below, we analyze the Trail Blazers-Clippers NBA betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Trail Blazers at Clippers: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 3:10 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Trail Blazers +145 (bet $100 to win $145) | Clippers -175 (bet $175 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Trail Blazers -4.5 (-120) | Clippers -4.5 (+100)
- Over/Under: 225.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Trail Blazers at Clippers: Key Injuries
Trail Blazers
- PF Zach Collins (ankle) out
- SG Gary Trent Jr. (calf) questionable
Clippers
- SF Kawhi Leonard (mouth) questionable
- PF Marcus Morris (knee) questionable
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Trail Blazers at Clippers: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Clippers 113, Trail Blazers 106
Money line (ML)
The Trail Blazers have won back-to-back games following their opening game 20-point blowout loss against the Utah Jazz. Portland beat a banged-up Houston Rockets team in overtime Saturday and got a little regular-season revenge on the Los Angeles Lakers in a 115-107 win Monday.
Aside from a 124-73 annihilation by the Dallas Mavericks Sunday, the Clippers have looked awesome to start the season. Los Angeles recovered to win its last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-101 Tuesday without its star Leonard for a second consecutive game.
Kawhi’s status heading into Wednesday’s game against the Trail Blazers is still unknown as he’s recovering from a knockout blow he suffered in a collision with teammate C Serge Ibaka on Christmas.
The Clippers beat the Trail Blazers 3-0 in last season’s regular-season series and covered all three games, including their final head-to-head in the bubble without Kawhi. If you remember, the Clippers had very little to play for while the Trail Blazers were pushing for a playoff berth when Los Angeles won as a 4-point underdog on Aug. 8.
Portland had the third-worst defensive efficiency last season and I don’t think the addition of F Robert Covington makes enough of an impact to back the Blazers against the Clippers. I’d imagine this line is set under the assumption that Kawhi misses the game because -175 is a great price for the Clippers if he’s active.
Otherwise, it’s a PASS for me because you’d have to pay too much vig to take a team without its best player vs. what should be a playoff-contending Portland team.
Against the spread (ATS)
SG Paul George was spectacular in his two games vs. the Trail Blazers last season, averaging 23 points per game on 57.7% field-goal shooting and 69.2% from deep. He’s certainly capable of stepping up for one game against a bad defensive backcourt.
Also, Trent is my pick for NBA Sixth Man of the Year this season and his status is questionable at the moment. If Trent cannot play or is limited, that has line value in Trail Blazers-Clippers.
I’m on the CLIPPERS -4.5 (+100) for 1 unit.
Over/Under (O/U)
This is a Pros vs. Joes scenario in the Trail Blazers-Clippers total market: 79% of the money is on the Under while 63% of the bets placed are on the Over, according to Pregame.com. The money side of the market is generally sharper than the bets/tickets column and for that reason, I lean UNDER 225.5 (-110) for a quarter-unit.
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