The Portland Trail Blazers (19-18, 10-12 Away) will be out to snap their road losing streak Friday when they head to face the Indiana Pacers (21-18, 13-7 Home), who will look to extend a winning home run of their own. Portland was defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-106 at Target Center on Wednesday, their fifth straight loss away from home.
Damian Lillard was the top scorer in defeat with 27 points. Jerami Grant was another key contributor with 26 points. The Trail Blazers are seventh in the Western Conference.
Indiana lost a close one on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center, falling to the Philadelphia 76ers 129-126 in overtime. Buddy Hield had 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists in the losing effort to lead the team. The Pacers are the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The teams are meeting for the last time this season. Portland will be looking for a season sweep against Indiana after coming out on top in the only prior game 116-100 at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter in December 2022. Grant led the Trail Blazers with 28 points, while Anfernee Simons contributed 22 points and six assists.
Myles Turner had 24 points in defeat. The Blazers have been led this season by Grant and Simons, who are averaging 22.5 and 22.4 points per game, respectively. Meanwhile, Jusuf Nurkic is grabbing 9.6 rebounds per game, and Josh Hart is dishing 4.1 assists.
Tyrese Haliburton (20.6 ppg) and Hield (18.1) have supplied much of the Pacers’ offense. Haliburton also has recorded 10.2 assists per game, most in the league. Turner has averaged 7.9 rebounds per game.The teams have split their last 10 games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (5-5). Indiana is pursuing a fifth consecutive win at home this season.
In the last 10 games, Portland is 4-6 with an average margin of +1.7 (114.8-113.1). Indiana has gone 6-4 over the last 10, scoring 118.2 points per game on average while holding opponents to 117.3 (+0.9 margin).
TRAIL BLAZERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Trendon Watford: 6.5 | 10.9 | -4.4
Rebounds per game:
Drew Eubanks: 6.0 | 4.4 | +1.6
Assists per game:
Josh Hart: 5.4 | 4.1 | +1.3
PACERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points per game:
Buddy Hield: 22.8 | 18.1 | +4.7
Rebounds per game:
Buddy Hield: 6.8 | 4.9 | +1.9
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Indiana Pacers (-120)
Want up to a $1K risk free bet for this pick?
Claim with 
today!
If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NBA hub page for all your basketball needs!
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
