The Portland Trailblazers invade the Footprint Center to take on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
The Portland Trailblazers have been in a bit of a funk as they’ve lost four of their past six games overall and they will be hoping to bounce back after last night’s 117-109 road loss to the Clippers. Damian Lillard led the team with 27 points and six assists, Norman Powell added 23 points on eight of 13 shooting while Jusuf Nurkic chipped in with 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. As a team, the Trailblazers shot 47 percent from the field and 14 of 37 from the 3-point line as they rallied back from an early 10-point deficit and hung around till the fourth quarter where the Clippers went on a pivotal 13-6 run to pull away and escape with the win behind 24 points from Paul George. It was good to see Lillard led the team in scoring on 11 of 23 shooting, but once again the Blazers got next to nothing from their bench who combined for just 25 points last night.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns have been heating up lately as they will be eager to build on their current five-game win streak after outlasting the Kings in a 109-104 road win on Monday. Cameron Payne provided the spark off the bench with 24 points in just 22 minutes of action, Devin Booker added 18 points with nine rebounds and six assists while Mikal Bridges and Chris Paul each scored 16 points. As a team, the Suns shot 47 percent from the field and 12 of 30 from the 3-point line as they dominated most of the game to lead by as many as 24 points in the third quarter, before hanging on for the narrow win as the Kings rallied in the fourth quarter to get to within three points with 9.4 seconds remaining.
Looking at the betting trends, the Trailblazers are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games playing on zero days’ rest, 0-7 ATS in their last seven road games and 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall. The Suns are 4-0 ATS in their last four home games against a team with a losing road record and the Suns are 4-0 ATS in the last four games overall.
Head to head, the over is 5-2 in the last seven meetings overall.
The Trailblazers were riding a two-game win streak before getting stopped in their tracks by the Clippers last night, so they’re showing signs of improvement with Lillard working his way back into form. The Suns are coming into this one with plenty of momentum as they are riding a five-game win streak, they are 4-0 ATS in their last four games overall and they are up against a Trailblazers team playing on zero days’ rest. This is a close one, but I’m sticking with the Suns to stay hot with a win and cover here.