The loud sound that you hear are the panic alarms emanating from Los Angeles as the spiraling Lakers (37-29) head up to Portland (37-29) tonight for a pivotal late-season battle to avoid slipping into Western Conference play-in tournament territory.
As if things weren’t already bad for the Lakers, who have dropped seven out of their last 10 contests, they will be without LeBron James (ankle) for tonight’s late showdown and will lean on Anthony Davis, who is battling back spasms but is expected to play. Meanwhile, Portland is hitting their stride and are returning home after taking five of six games on a long road trip throughout the east.
Lakers vs. Trail Blazers, 10:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Pick ATS: Portland -8
Momentum is on the side of the Blazers here and with L.A. hobbled and out of sorts, expect the home team to smell blood in the water and cover.
Portland has turned up on offense since Damian Lillard returned from a hamstring injury a few weeks ago, topping 120 points in six of their last seven contests. The Lakers, meanwhile, have failed to come anywhere close to mustering up that same output on the offensive end over the last month. Their last 120+ point performance came in a 127-115 overtime victory over Utah on Apr. 17.
Player Prop: Jusuf Nurkic O12.5 Points (-108)
Nurk has been a solid double-double machine for the Blazers over the last 10 games and has hit over 12.5 points in six of those outings. Although hobbled, he’ll still have to contend with Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond in the paint but he should be able to eclipse that mark as Portland runs away with this one.
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