Expect a low-scoring game when the Portland Trail Blazers (11-8, 7-4 Away) travel to face the Brooklyn Nets (9-11, 4-4 Home) on Sunday. Portland squeaked by the New York Knicks 132-129 in overtime at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Jerami Grant was the standout player with 44 points. The Trail Blazers are fourth in the Western Conference, 1.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns.
Brooklyn fell short on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, falling to the Indiana Pacers 128-117. Kevin Durant had 36 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the loss to lead the team. The Nets are 10th in the Eastern Conference.This is the final meeting of the season between the teams.
Brooklyn will be aiming for a season sweep against Portland after earning the win in the only previous matchup 109-107 at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter on November 17. Durant led the Nets with 35 points and eight rebounds. Damian Lillard had 25 points and 11 assists in the loss.
Anfernee Simons and Grant, averaging 23.6 and 21.1 points per game, respectively, are leading the Blazers in scoring this season. Both are among the league’s top scorers, as Simons is No. 1 and Grant is first. Meanwhile, Jusuf Nurkic is grabbing 9.8 rebounds per game, most in the league, and Josh Hart is dishing 4.3 assists (1st).
Durant’s 29.2 points per game have powered the Nets on offense. He has the top scoring average in the NBA. Durant also has distributed 5.4 assists per game, most in the NBA. Nicolas Claxton has collected 8.4 rebounds per game.
Half-court execution will be critical in this matchup that features two of the league’s slowest-paced teams, as the Trail Blazers and the Nets rank 27th and 26th, respectively, in possessions per game. The Trail Blazers are 6-3 in nine games at Barclays Center.
Portland is 5-5 in the last 10 games with an average margin of -0.4 (110.9-111.3). Brooklyn has also split the last 10 (5-5), scoring 111.1 points per game on average while holding opponents to 110.8 (+0.3 margin).
TRAIL BLAZERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points per game:
Jusuf Nurkic: 18.6 | 14.5 | +4.1
Damian Lillard: 19.0 | 26.3 | -7.3
Assists per game:
Damian Lillard: 9.0 | 7.0 | +2.0
NETS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Yuta Watanabe: 25.5 | 12.1 | +13.4
Rebounds per game:
Ben Simmons: 7.2 | 5.7 | +1.5
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Portland Trail Blazers +8.5 (-105)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
