10:40 pm
December 17

Trail Blazers @ Clippers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Portland Trail Blazers (16-13)

@ Los Angeles Clippers (17-12)

 

Current odds:

Portland Trail Blazers: (+100)

Los Angeles Clippers: (-120)

 

• The line for the game is Los Angeles by 1.5 points.

• Power forward Zach Collins led four reserves in double figures with 16 points and the five bench players combined to go 22-of-36 from the floor on Friday. “I think it really was just our energy,” guard Nik Stauskas, who scored 13 points, told reporters. “We were moving the ball from side to side, we were cutting hard. I think most importantly, we were getting stops on the defensive end and were kind of able to run out in transition and not have to call as many plays. I think that’s when we’re kind of most effective, we call it playing out of flow. I think the more we can do that, the more effective we can be.” The bench was so effective that no starter logged more than Damian Lillard’s 29 minutes in the win.

• Los Angeles fell by a total of 62 points in losses to Toronto and San Antonio before battling the Thunder in a 110-104 road loss on Saturday. The Clippers shot 50.7 percent from the floor, including 13-of-25 from 3-point range, and had three players score at least 20 points in the setback. “Seeing the ball go in for a lot of guys tonight was a good sign, too, of that confidence that we’ve been missing for some time now,” small forward Tobias Harris told reporters. “I thought as a team everybody, including myself, had too many turnovers and just mentally we let the referees get to us and let that disrupt our composure that we’ve got to be better at. I think we take away a couple of those things it would have been a great game for us, overall.”

• The teams split the first two meetings, with Los Angeles earning a 104-100 victory at Portland in the most recent matchup on Nov. 25.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Portland Trail Blazers
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