Pick against the spread, best player prop for Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers on Thursday

The Portland Trail Blazers (23-16) will host the New Orleans Pelicans (17-23) in their second of back-to-back games against each other. The Blazers pulled off a narrow win after coming back from a 17-point deficit as Damian Lillard dropped a season-high 50 points to help Portland rally to a win in the dying seconds. Lillard was fouled late and made both of his shots to take the 125-124 lead with 1.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the Pelicans couldn’t find a quick answer at the buzzer. Lillard added 10 assists to his 50 points while on the other side, Brandon Ingram and Zion WIlliamson dropped 30 and 28 points, respectively.

Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers, 10:00 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass

Pick ATS: Trail Blazers -1

The spread is unsurprisingly extremely close between these two especially after how close the last game ended up. If the Blazers can channel some of that fourth-quarter energy earlier in the game tonight, and if CJ McCollum can continue to find his legs after returning from injury, I’d expect Portland to win tonight’s game too and cover the spread. They can’t rely on Lillard dropping a 50 burger every time he hits the court, so guys like Gary Trent Jr, Derrick Jones Jr, and Carmelo Anthony will have to step up to continue the great run of form the home side has seen lately. The Blazers have won five of their last seven outings, while the 11th-place Pelicans have only won three in that same stretch.

Player Prop: Brandon Ingram O23.5 points (-121)

Regardless of the game’s outcome, this one’s almost a no-brainer as Ingram’s averaged 23.9 points on the season and hasn’t scored less than 20 points in 10 of his last 12 games. Nine of those have seen him score 23 or above which includes his 30 against the Blazers in their last game. Pretty safe to say Ingram can take care of this one, even if New Orleans ultimately ends up losing the game altogether.

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