The Phoenix Suns (48-21) host the Portland Trail Blazers (41-29) Thursday at their self-titled arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Trail Blazers-Suns odds and lines, with NBA picks and predictions.
Portland won its fifth straight game (3-2 against the spread) yesterday by handling the Utah Jazz 105-98 as 1-point road favorites.
The Blazers sit in fifth place in the West with the same record as the 6-seed Dallas Mavericks but owns the tiebreaker and is 1 game in front of the seventh-place Los Angeles Lakers (seeds 7-10 participate in the postseason play-in).
Phoenix is 1.5 games back of the Utah Jazz for first in the Western Conference with four games remaining (three games remaining for the Jazz).
The Suns have lost back-to-back games and three of their last four (1-3 ATS) with all three losses coming on the road vs. the Atlanta Hawks, Lakers and Golden State Warriors.
Phoenix is going for the season sweep against Portland and has won and covered in four of the past five meetings.
Trail Blazers at Suns: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 4:40 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Trail Blazers +135 (bet $100 to win $135) | Suns -160 (bet $160 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Trail Blazers +3.5 (-110) | Suns -3.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 235.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Trail Blazers at Suns: Key injuries
Trail Blazers
- PF Nassir Little (back) questionable
Suns
- C Deandre Ayton (knee) questionable
- PF Cameron Johnson (wrist) out
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Trail Blazers at Suns: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Suns 123, Trail Blazers 116
Money line (ML)
PASS because Phoenix is the right side here, but the Suns (-160) is too expensive given how hard it is to win all three regular-season games against a team as good as the Trail Blazers (+135).
Both teams are plenty motivated with the Suns chasing the Jazz for home-court advantage throughout the postseason and the Blazers jockeying for playoff seeding.
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Against the spread (ATS)
“LEAN” to the SUNS -3.5 (-110) for a half unit because Phoenix’s backcourt negates a Portland backcourt that usually has an edge against most other teams, and the Suns are a more complete team.
For example, both teams play at a slow tempo (Phoenix ranks 27th in pace and Portland ranks 20th) and each is top-10 in offensive rating, but the Suns are 10th in defensive rating and the Blazers are 29th.
Also, each team is run by their Hall of Fame-caliber point guards, but Chris Paul‘s teams have dominated Damian Lillard and the Blazers throughout his career.
CP3’s teams are 20-6 all-time vs. the Blazers and Lillard is only shooting 41.3% from the field vs. Paul when they’ve faced each other.
However, I’m not putting a full unit on Phoenix to cover because Ayton has been added to the injury report, and if he’s out of the lineup then the Suns should be a half-point cheaper at least.
Over/Under (O/U)
“LEAN” to the OVER 235.5 (-110) for a quarter unit only since we are getting the worst of the number because Trail Blazers-Suns opened with a 232.5-point total, but the market has steamed it up three points.
But, Phoenix has gone Over the total in seven straight and nine of its last 10 games, and both teams are in the top-4 of offensive rating this month.
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