Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Clippers
Wednesday, 10/27/10, 10:30 PM EST; TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Portland -3
Current Betting Line: Portland -2.5
Opening Total: 193.5
Current Total: 192.5
Current Moneyline: Portland -140 / Los Angeles +120
Portland is set to begin a four-game road trip after kicking off its 2010-11 season with an impressive 106-92 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. “We did a good job in the fourth quarter of settling down, taking away their 3-ball and making them try to beat us at the rim,” said guard Brandon Roy. He led the Blazers with 24 points in the contest. The Blazers outscored the Suns 18-1 over the final 5:44 of the game to secure the victory. Head coach Nate McMillan was happy to pick up the win, but finds it strange that his team is starting a road trip on the back end of a back-to-back to start the year. “You’ve got to play 82 and you’ve got to play the schedule,” he commented. The squad is 13-6 ATS as a road favorite of three points or less. Right now the NBA betting line has them as a 2.5 point road favorite.
The Trail Blazers have won six of the past seven games and nine of the last 11 against the Clippers, including wins in five of six at the Staples Center. Portland won last season’s series, 3-1, giving the team its third consecutive season series win. Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field during least year’s four-game series and the Blazers shot 40.4 percent from beyond the arc. Forward LaMarcus Aldridge led the team in averaging 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in this three games against the Clippers in 2009-10. McMillan’s unit will face 22 back-to-back situations in 2010-11 after leading the NBA with a 15-4 mark in the second games of back-to-back sets last year.
Los Angeles starts its season with high hopes after finishing with a 29-53 record and missing the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 seasons and fourth in a row. The Clippers are banking on rookie Blake Griffin to give them a lift after he sat out all of last season with a non-displaced stress fracture of the left patella. “Sitting out all year really gave me kind of a different perspective and it really put a fire inside of me,” Griffin stated. “I’m really excited.” He led the NBA in rebounding in the preseason with 12.3 boards per game and also was tops on the team in averaging 17.3 points per game in starting and playing in six exhibition games. The squad is 67-95 ATS over the last two seasons.
The Clippers are 18-22 on Opening Night in their history and tonight will be the first time in two years that they don’t open up against the Lakers. “It will start on the defensive end for us. We have to be kind of a scrappy, physical, dominant mentality type defensive team,” said first-year head coach Vinny Del Negro. He owns a 2-0 coaching record on Opening Night, with both wins coming during his time in Chicago. Los Angeles finished the preseason with a 1-7 record and the roster boasts four rookies.
Bettors will make note of the Blazers 36-16 ATS mark in their last 52 games playing on zero days rest, while the Clippers finished last season on a 4-1 ATS run as a home underdog.
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