Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction: Lakers to break unlucky streak

LeBron James' Lakers have yet to pick up their first win of the current regular season, and against Portland, the Lakers will try to make up for it. Can Los Angeles break their losing streak? Let's find out.

LeBron James has surely had his share of flashbacks since his last season with Cleveland, when he struggled to produce results while playing with obscure characters. The Lakers clearly lack snipers, and signing a quality bench on minimal contracts is a daunting task. Lonnie Walker has the most potential among L.A.'s role players, and he's currently 3rd on the team in scoring average with 15.5 points. Anthony Davis had a good start to the regular season overall, although he often has to take difficult shots from midrange. Davis is hitting 50% of his field-goal attempts for 26 points per game. Dennis Schroder, Troy Brown Jr. and Thomas Bryant are still out with the roster, but are unlikely to play against Portland.

Darvin Ham's team lost both of their games at the start of the season. After losing to Golden State by 14 points, the Lakers failed to cope with the Clippers as well, 97-103. Thus, the Lakers' losing streak stands at four games. In the preseason they also lost to Minnesota and Sacramento. In the game against the Clippers, three players scored 20+ points and Lonnie Walker suddenly became the most productive player on the floor with 26 points. The Lakeers had trouble shooting from long range, with only 9 of their 45 attempts successful, and Anthony Davis was suddenly the team's top scorer.

The Blazers' sudden rebuild over the course of last season appears to have paid off handsomely. The start to the season from Damian Lillard and company has been encouraging, with Portland consistently winning 2 games. On offense Anfernee Simons gets the same workload as the club's leader, averaging 19 points but shooting less than 40% from the field. The Blazers play good defense thanks to Josh Hart, Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant and Nassir Little, and there is still room for improvement as Gary Payton should return from the Infirmary. Payton is unlikely to play against the Lakers and that is Portland's only significant loss.

The day before Chauncey Billups' team defeated Phoenix at home, 113-111. Portland didn't play well on the court, but Damian Lillard showed his best basketball, scoring 42 points. The Blazers played well on the fast break and also won more frequent foul trouble. Nurkic dominated the paint for good measure, becoming the second-best scorer on the team. Simons has clearly not had a chance to shoot well. Against the Suns, he attempted only 5 of his 17 shots, frequently missing from beyond the arc and from midrange.

When Anthony Davis is healthy and ready to play, things aren't too bad for Los Angeles. Davis interacts well with Russell Westbrook, although no one can undo some questionable decisions of Russ. The Lakers are still struggling without Schroder and Bryant, but even so, the Lakers are better able to hit from beyond the arc than they were against the Clippers. Portland had a tough game against Phoenix and the Blazers' offense is far from perfect. LeBron will be motivated to break the losing streak at last, so the betting options are as follows:

• TU (222.5) for 2.10;
• H1 (-3.5) for 1.85;
• ITO1 (113.5) for 1.76.

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