The Los Angeles Lakers will pay the Portland Trail Blazers with a visit this Saturday for an incredibly important game for both teams. The Lakers and the Blazers are trying to avoid the dreaded play-in tournament, so a win here could go a long way towards their goal of securing a top-six spot in the playoffs.
Catch this game live on Saturday, May 8, at 10 AM, Manila time
HOME TEAM: Portland Trail Blazers (37-29, 16-16 at home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Damian Lillard
- SG: CJ McCollum
- SF: Derrick Jones Jr.
- PF: Robert Covington
- C: Jusuf Nurkic
We strongly advise against shaking hands with the Blazers unless you really desire to end up getting third-degree burns. The Blazers are smoking hot on offense, as evidenced by the fact that they have averaged 128.4 points on 51.0 FG% in their last five games.
Moreover, the Blazers have also buried an average of 16.6 threes on a ridiculous 44.1 3FG% during that span. With the Lakers missing LeBron James and possibly Anthony Davis, the Blazers could end up dominating this game with the kind of offense they’re having right now.
Portland has covered the spread in five of their last six games and is also 4-0 ATS in its last four outings after exactly just a full day of rest. The last time the Blazers were on the floor, they lit the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on fire by shooting 57.6% from the field and hitting 16 of 33 shots from long distance in a 141-105 road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
ROAD TEAM: Los Angeles Lakers (37-29, 19-14 on the road)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Alex Caruso
- SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- SF: Kyle Kuzma
- PF: Anthony Davis
- C: Andre Drummond
Things are not looking good for the Purple and Gold. After stopping a three-game losing skid in a 93-89 home win over the Denver Nuggets last Tuesday, the bleeding returned for the Lakers, as they suffered a 118-94 loss at STAPLES Center to the LA Clippers on Friday. The Lakers only got nine minutes from Anthony Davis in the Clippers game, as left the game early with an ankle injury and did not return – and it was later claimed that it was back spasms and not the ankle that took him out for good in the game.
That being said, Davis said in his postgame interview that he’ll be good to go this Saturday to play in an all-important showdown against the Blazers. The Lakers are already missing James and Dennis Schroder. They couldn’t afford to lose Davis for the stretch run, so it’s more than likely they will let Davis play even on a bum ankle, as long as it’s manageable.
The Lakers didn’t need Davis, though, when they beat Portland at home last February, 102-93, as Montrezl Harrell and Alex Caruso both came off the bench and combined for 27 points. Los Angeles is 6-1 ATS in their last seven games on a Saturday (Manila) and 5-1 ATS in their last six on zero days of rest.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: With or without Anthony Davis, the Lakers will fall victims to the Blazers, who will be playing at home after a good rest and riding a wave of momentum, offensively. Take the Blazers to win and cover -6.5.
Over/Under: The Blazers might see a bit of regression on offense, but they’re still going to shoot the lights out here, while the Lakers struggle to find their rhythm. Take the Under 221.5.
