There’s still plenty to play for in the NBA heading into the final stretch of the regular season. The Portland Trail Blazers can clinch home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs where they’ll likely meet either the Clippers or the Spurs. Brooklyn is a whole different predicament. The Nets have to hold off Boston, Miami, Indiana and Charlotte for a spot as one of the East’s bottom seeds.
Read on for a breakdown of this East vs. West matchup. Looking for more NBA action? Then check out our complete previews for the Hornets vs. Heat and Spurs vs. Thunder.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Portland Trail Blazers vs. Brooklyn Nets Preview
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn
When: Monday, April 6, 7:00 AM ET
Line: Portland Trail Blazers (+6.5) at Brooklyn Nets (-6.5); total 201.5 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers are rolling into the playoffs with style. They clinched their first Northwest Division title in six years, while notching their 13th 50-win campaign.
[sc:NBA240banner ]The Blazers will head into Brooklyn on a three-game road win streak, going a perfect 3-0 against the spread. Point guard Damian Lilliard has been on a tear during that streak. He’s averaging 18 points and seven assists per game over Portland’s last three on the road.
Lilliard should have another big game ahead considering Brooklyn has allowed starting point guards to score at least 16.3 points while dishing out at 4.8 assists over their last four games. He scored 28 and dished out 10 assists in his last game against Brooklyn, a 97-87 win on November 15.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, who both missed the first game against Brooklyn, have been ruled out for this matchup for rest. So expect more minutes from the likes of Joel Freeland and Allen Crabbe. Freeland has scored 12 points in 32 minutes of play in his last four games. Crabbe has scored eight in 35 minutes over Portland’s last two games on the road.
The Blazers have won six of their last seven games.
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Betting on the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are peaking at the perfect time. Prior to dropping a 131-99 loss at Atlanta on Saturday, the Nets had won six straight and 10 of their last 12 games. They’ve been a hot home team as of late, winning their last four (3-0-1 ATS) at the Barclays Center.
Brook Lopez has been a beast during the home win streak. He’s scoring 26 points on 56 percent shooting while dragging down 16 rebounds over that span. He scored 21 points on 59 percent shooting but had just four rebounds against an Aldridge-less Portland earlier in the season.
While Lopez exploits Portland’s questionable inside defense (42.7 points in paint allowed this season, 19th in the league), Deron Williams can burn the Blazers with his sizzling outside shooting. Williams has shot 57 percent from three-point range over Brooklyn’s last four home games. He scored a season-high 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, in a home game against Toronto on April 3.
Bojan Bogdanovic could also be a perimeter threat off the bench. He scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting (3-of-5 from downtown) against the Hawks on Saturday. But he missed all five of his field goal attempts, four of which were three-pointers, in Brooklyn’s first game against Portland this season.
The total has gone over in Brooklyn’s last five games.
Writer’s Prediction
Portland covers +6.5.
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