The Portland Trail Blazers play their third game in four nights as they hit the road and travel to the Valley of the Suns to take on the Phoenix Suns at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Portland Trail Blazers look to bounce back after their three game winning streak was snapped in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. The Blazers have won seven of 10, are 29-20 on the season and are trying to hold off the Houston Rockets for the 4th seed in the Western Conference.
Damian Lillard leads the Blazers with 26.3 points and 6.2 assists per game. His backcourt partner C.J. McCollum is averaging 20.7 points per game and is coming off a 31 point effort in the loss to the Thunder. Jusuf Nurkic is averaging 15.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks for the Blazers in his best season in the NBA.
The Blazers are the 10th best scoring team in the league at 112.5 points per game. They are also ranked 2nd in rebounding with 48.1 boards per contest. However, Portland is just 25th in the passing game at 22.5 assists per game. They also allow their opponents to score 110.2 points per game, which is the 14th fewest in the league.
The Phoenix Suns head to this matchup having lost seven in a row to the Blazers. In as much as the Suns would want to end that skid on Thursday night, they will be hard-pressed to do so as they could play without a pair of starters. T.J. Warren is out of the game with an ankle injury while DeAndre Ayton is questionable with a sprained ankle. Likewise, backup big man Richaun Holmes may miss the game with a sprained foot. Ayton and Holmes have missed the Suns’ last two games.
Devin Booker leads the way for Phoenix with 24.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Kelly Oubre Jr. has played well with 14.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game but will need to step up in the absence of Warren and possibly Ayton. Josh Jackson (9.9 PPG) and Mikal Bridges (7.6 PPG) will also have to help out Booker if the Suns are to defend the home court and topple the Blazers.
Phoenix has the 6th lowest scoring average in the league at 106.0 points per game. They also allow the 6th most points per game at 115.1. The Suns are next to last in rebounding with their 40.1 average and they are ranked 17th in passing with an average of 23.9 assists per game.
The Blazers are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played. Portland is 1-3 SU in their last four road games. The Suns are 2-8 SU in their last 10 games played. Phoenix is 2-3 SU in their last five home games played. Head to head, the Blazers are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games against the Suns.
This will be Portland’s third game in four nights with all three games on the road. Portland already looked tired against OKC the last time out when they committed 19 turnovers including six in the final period. The Thunder scored 29 points off those turnovers and won the game 123-114. The Blazers took the next day off and hopefully, they will be fresh in Phoenix against the Suns on Thursday. Other than that, Portland has won 7 of 10 and are in 4th place in the West and they are playing well right now.
As for the Suns, not only are they struggling with just two wins in their last 10 games, Phoenix is also hurting with Warren, Ayton and Holmes hurt. Only Warren is officially out of this game but Ayton and Holmes have missed the Suns’ last two games played. Devin Booker continues to have a great season but he cannot do it alone and carry the team on his shoulders. Kelly Oubre has been a big lift since coming over but even then, it hasn’t been enough as the Suns scramble to find points.
The Blazers are just 9-13 SU on the road but the Suns are equally bad at their home floor at 7-18 SU there on the season. There is obviously some frustration as evidenced by their 27 point loss to Minnesota on Tuesday and Devin Booker’s skirmish with Gorgui Dieng but the Suns need to keep it together so they can have a respectable season. This game though should belong to Portland who is on a roll and who are looking to bounce back after losing to the Thunder. I’m picking the Portland Trail Blazers to beat the Phoenix Suns on 1/24/19.
Portland is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games and 2-2 ATS in four road games over that period. Phoenix is 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played and 2-3 ATS in their five home games during that stretch. Head to head, the Suns are 3-1 ATS in their last four games versus the Blazers.
Portland is 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games played, 5-1 ATS in their last six games against the West and 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games overall. Phoenix is 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games against teams with winning records. Portland covers the spread against a depleted and banged up Phoenix squad. Prediction: Blazers -7.5
The over is 5-4-1 in the Blazers’ last 10 games played. The total has gone under in six out of the last 10 games played by the Suns. The under is 4-1 in the last five home games of Phoenix. Head to head, the total has gone under in two of the last three games between these two teams.
These teams have played to the under in six out of their last seven meetings in Phoenix. The Suns have scored 97 or fewer points in four out of their last seven games. Without their second leading scorer in Warren, Phoenix may find it hard to match the Blazers’ high scoring backcourt. I don’t think Phoenix helps Portland push the total to over. Prediction: Under
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