Los Angeles Clippers AT Portland Trailblazers
Jan 20th, 2011 at 10:30 PM EST
Opening Line:  Portland -4.5
Current Line:  Portland -3.5
Opening Total: 195
Current Total: 195
Opening Moneyline:  Port -155 / LAC +135
Current Moneyline:  Port -160 / LAC +135

Both teams enter tonight’s game with 3 game winning streaks.  The Clippers, jokingly, were referred to as the most exciting bad basketball team in the league, but with their current play that “bad team” label may be disappearing.  With a talented young nucleus of Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin, Clipper fans are beginning to exhibit the signs of hope, that is if owner Donald Sterling will spend the money necessary to actually build a contending basketball team; he hasn’t in the past.

Griffin is looking like the favorite to win the rookie of the year award, and if you read my rookie of the year article in the offseason you would have dropped a bet on him doing just that.  During his run of double doubles this year, he is averaging 25.4 points per game and 13.8 rebounds per game, and is sparking a lot of writers to question if he could become the best power forward ever to play the game.  While that conversation may be a bit premature, he is certainly emerging as one of the best young players in the game and will showcase his awesome athleticism at the Dunk Contest in this year’s All Star weekend.

Some betting trends:

The Clippers are 6-1 SU in their last 7 gmaes and the total has gone OVER in 5 of their last 5 on the road.  They are 3-16 SU in their last 19 on the road and 2-3-1 ATS in their last 6 on the road.  They are 3-6 ATS in their last 9 against the Blazers and 1-8 SU in their last 9 against Portland.   The total has also gone OVER in 6 of their last 8 road games against Portland and they are 1-5 SU in their last 6 road games in the Rose Garden.

Portland is 10-2 SU in their last 12 games at home.  The total has gone OVER in 5 of their last 7 at home and they are 8-1 SU in their last 9 against the Clippers.

Key Matchups:

Marquee Matchup:  Blake Griffin vs LaMarcus Aldridge

Both of these power forwards enter tonight’s game playing excellent basketball.  Aldridge has stepped up in the absense of Roy to prove he is worth his weight in gold.  He’s scored over 20 in 11 of his last 12 games and had 23 points and 9 rebounds last game in a 4 point win over Sacramento.  His outside shooting will make Griffin step out on the court, but Griffin is a capable defender at any place on the court, so Aldridge won’t have the advantage he does against more cumbersome power forwards.  Griffin recently had a 47 point 14 rebound game against Indiana in a 7 point Clipper win.  Last game represented his first non-double double since November 17th, but it wasn’t as though he had a bad game.  29 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds is a success by anyone’s standards and  Griffin will look to start a new streak of double doubles tonight.  He’s exceeded even the highest expectations and his athleticism could give Aldridge problems tonight as Aldridge is about average as far as leaping and speed goes.

Eric Gordon vs Wesley Matthews

Gordon represents the other half of the Clippers future and like Griffin he has been playing excellent.  He’s averaging 23.9 points per game and 4.6 assists per game from the shooting guards position and is shooting a superb 46% from the floor.  Matthews represented the big free agent signing for Portland this off season but few could have predicted he would be the scorer he has evolved into.  He’s very inconsistent, but when he’s hot he’s great.  Last game he had only 4 points, going 1 of 7 from the floor, but he’s scored 20 or more 14 times this season and over 30 three times.   If he can get hot, it will be a big challenge for Gordon as Matthews’ long wing span enables him to get off shots with ease.  Most likely these two will more or less nuetralize one another, even if Gordon does have the edge in scoring based on season averages.

Tonight’s game promises to be a good one.  One of these teams’ winning streaks will come to an end, and the Clippers are starting to have playoff aspirations.  If they can win this game and continue to play great basketball they may shock the NBA.