Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction: Sliding Portland takes on improved Lakers

The NBA Regular Season is going like a breeze, teams are approaching the 50-game mark. It also spells that we are close to the trade deadline and there is a high chance many quality players are going to change their jerseys. Thus, management will be looking intensely at the picture and hope to make some changes. Two such teams that are looking for depth, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Los Angeles Lakers are going to meet here. 

The Trail Blazers come into this game after losing 95:105 against the Philadelphia 76ers despite a 25 points performance by Damian Lillard. They have now lost two in a row and 11 of their last fifteen games, being one of the most struggling roads while also faltering at home. Due to this poor window, they have now been reduced to 24 losses and have just 21 wins after starting the season with nine wins and three losses.

After starting strong, this season has replicated what Blazers had produced during the last few seasons, not being able to build anything sustainable. Once again, Damian Lillard has had to play out of his skin for the team to have a chance and steadily, their confidence has declined. This has happened despite the production of Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, and Jusuf Nurkic so the Trail Blazers desperately need a trade at this point.

The Lakers enter the affair after a sneaky 122:121 win against the Memphis Grizzlies as Russell Westbrook pumped up 29 points. A late steal and then the finish by Dennis Schroeder sealed the deal as the Lakers finally closed out a game. They have lost four of their last six games, and five of these games have been decided during the last few possessions. The Lakers now have 25 losses and 21 wins and had they been better at finishing games, they could have easily been above the 50% win mark.

One of the major concerns has been the team’s poor long-range shooting and due to this, they have been outflanked from the outside. Then the other big concern has been the absence of Anthony Davis who was on fire before his injury. LeBron James has been on fire whereas Russell Westbrook has averaged around 20 points while being a superb all-around player. However, the team lacks dependable defense in the middle and a sharpshooter who can ease things.

• Trail Blazers: OUT: Justice Winslow. PROBABLE: Gary Payton II;
• Lakers: OUT: Austin Reaves, Lonnie Walker IV, Anthony Davis. Game-Time Decision: LeBron James.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Damian Lillard(33-38 Points), LeBron James(30-36 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Jusuf Nurkic(10-12 Rebounds), LeBron James(8-10 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Damian Lillard(8-10 Assists), Russell Westbrook(8-11 Assists).

The Lakes have played better basketball than the Trail Blazers, especially on the offensive end. Both teams are yet to find their stride this season and that is why these types of games are the hardest to predict. The Lakers may not be able to contain Lillard whereas LeBron and Russell both will present a ton of match-up problems. Both teams have lacked scoring depth at times, especially from deep. Anyway, I expect Portland to be the stronger team here due to the home-court advantage. I predict a scoreline of 122:116 scoreline in favor of Portland.