Filip Tomic
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The playoff race in the West is heating up as the 10th-placed Pelicans clash with the 11th-placed Blazers. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 pm ET on ESPN, and I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay which you can find below.
Check our NBA predictions for picks on the side and total on all 9 Wednesday games. We went 7-3 on our spread picks and 8-2 on our totals last night! Let’s dive into my SGP bet now.
Portland Trail Blazers 1-10 win margin (+185)
Damian Lillard under 7.5 assists (-130)
C.J. McCollum 2+ made threes (-370)
Parlay odds: +570
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Portland Trail Blazers 1-10 win margin (+185)
Playoff spots are at stake at the Moda Center tonight as the Pelicans and Blazers battle it out. Portland won the first meeting in mid-November, but a lot has happened since then. New Orleans hasn’t had the best of starts to the year, and injuries have derailed them more than any team in the NBA this season. They’ll be heading into this one with Larry Nance Jr., Jose Alvarado, Jonas Valanciunas, Zion Williamson and Josh Richardson all listed on the injury report. They’re winless in 3 games since the break and hanging on to the final play-in tournament spot with a 0.5-game advantage over the Blazers.
Unlike New Orleans, Portland will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back, so they have that working against them. Dame and co. got off to a hot start against the Warriors last night, but they blew a 23-point lead to fall 123-105 on the road. It’s a tricky matchup for both teams. Neither has impressed lately, but Portland has the edge in head-to-head meetings, winning 13 of the last 20 at Moda Center and I’ll back the Blazers again.
Read our New Orleans Pelicans vs Portland Trail Blazers predictions
Damian Lillard under 7.5 assists (-130)
Damian Lillard hasn’t been focused on getting the assists lately and part of the reason why that is happening is because Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons and Justise Winslow are all out with injuries. Dame is in a tough spot as he has very few options to pass the ball on offense, hence why he exploded for 71 points against the Rockets the other night. He’s gone under 7.5 assists in 5 games in a row, and in 8 of his last 10. His assists per game also went down from 7.6 in January to 7 in February, and with playoff seeding on the line I think he will take it upon himself to carry the scoring load for Portland. In last night’s loss at Chase Center, his teammates combined to shoot just 43% from the field, while connecting on just 10 of 32 attempts from three. Until the Blazers are healthy, Dame will fill up the scoring and struggle with his assist numbers.
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C.J. McCollum 2+ made threes (-370)
C.J. McCollum always seems to do well when playing against his former team. He’s averaging over 20 points per game in 3 meetings since the trade last year, including 3 threes made per contest on 39.1% efficiency. With the Pels missing 4 very important pieces tonight, Ingram and McCollum should lead the charge offensively. Portland’s 3-point defending has been less than convincing this season and the Blazers rank just 23rd in opponent 3-point percentage, allowing 37% of shots to go in. It gets even worse in home games at 38.7%, which is the worst number in the NBA. It should be a high-scoring game between two not-so-good defensive teams and hopefully McCollum will set the tone early with a couple of shots from beyond the arc.
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