NBA: Los Angeles Lakers VS Portland Trail Blazers Pick and Predictions 01/22/2023

Game: 9:10 PM ET,  Sunday, January 22nd, 2023

Venue: Moda Center at the Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon

TV:  NBA League Pass

Lakers: 21-25, 13th place Western Conference

Blazers: 21-24, 12th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Blazers -6.5, O/U 238.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Blazers -6, O/U 239

Fanduel: Point Spread: Blazers -6.5, O/U 239

Lakers: PF LeBron James, SF Troy Brown Jr, C Thomas Bryant, PG Dennis Schroder, SG Patrick Beverley

Blazers: PF Jerami Grant, SF Josh Hart, C Jusuf Nurkic, PG Damian Lilliard, SG Anfernee Simons

A Western Conference single regular NBA season game with a direct effect on the standings.  This one is big.  This one is for none of the marbles.  The winner of this 13th and 12th place matchup will get to claim sole possession of 12th place!!... Alright so it is not a big deal.  No one really cares who is in 12th or 13th place in the West except for the New Orleans Pelicans who own the right to swap draft picks with the Lakers. Outside of that?... These are two underperforming teams… each has a star player that painted themselves into a career corner and now plays for a lottery team instead of a contender.  The Los Angeles Lakers have LeBron James… the best player of the last 2 decades in the NBA and possibly (really) of all time. LeBron worked his way to the Lakers and pressured them to trade big and was rewarded with another NBA Championship!  Then he screwed up and signed an extension with a depleted team that has very bad management.  He should have jumped to a contender.  They are run like any organization that leaves control to spoiled children of a recently deceased very successful owner.  The Portland Trail Blazers have PG Damian Lilliard… who is one of the 3 best point guards of the last 15 years.  He is the real deal when it comes to ripping another team’s heart out.  He has no rings because he has always been a Blazer, but since his 2nd year in the league he has always been their best player.  He signed a MEGA MAX contract that will keep him in Portland for every last shred of his awesome career.  He will be paid $50 million a year which is hard to argue with… but if he had jumped ship for less money he may have been able to win a few Championships of his own… Philly, Denver, Utah (from a year ago), Clippers, heck even Chicago would all have been favorites for the title if Damian simply walked and joined.  The great betting opportunity here is knowing that LeBron wants the 12th spot more than anyone on the court, but he may not have the teammates to make it happen.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 6 of their last 10 games. They went 7-3 ATS during that stretch.  They are still in 13th place, but it is obvious they are learning to play without needing Anthony Davis… which will only make AD more valuable when he returns.  They won their last game 122-121 over the Memphis Grizzlies… a shocking result.  In that game LeBron had 23 points as he inched closer to breaking the all-time scoring record… but the show was SG/PG Russell Westbrook who p[lays as a sixth man and landed 29 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in 31 minutes of play.  Russell has been having many great games as a sixth man and his embrace of that role will likely buy him another 4-5 seasons of NBA contracts.

The Portland Trail Blazers have won only 3 of their last 10 games.  That is why they have been dropping in the standings.  They are on a 2-game losing streak.  They last lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 105-95. They got 25 points from Damian Lilliard and 24 points from PF Jerami Grant… Simons added 16 points… but C Jusuf Nurkic, and SF Josh Hart both came up lame and couldn’t contribute much.  They were both -13 on the +/- score.  They will need to play better against the scrubs that make up LeBron and Russell’s teammates.

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LAL: 21-25, 21-24-1 ATS, 25-21 O/U, 9-14 in road games.

POR: 21-24, 24-21 ATS, 19-25-1 O/U, 11-9 in home games.

The Lakers are 7th in scoring with 117 points per game, 6th in rebounds with 44.8 per game, 15th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8 per game, 15th in blocks per game with 4.7.

The Blazers are 18th in scoring with 112.9 points per game, 16th in rebounds with 43.1 per game, 26th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6, and 23rd in blocked shots with 4.2 per game.

Our prediction for Sunday, January 22nd is…. Blazers 120 - Lakers 106

Bet on the Blazers.  PG Damian Lilliard takes beating the Lakers very seriously. Who exactly on the Lakers roster is going to stop him from getting 40?... Plus LeBron’s defensive assignment will be PF Jerami Grant who is a 20-10 threat every night he plays… That means the Lakers only great consistent player will be busy on defense while his scrubs will be busy getting throttled by Damian Lilliard. And Anfernee Simons.

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Lakers: PG Russell Westbrook.  It’s all cake fro Russell.  Yes he started the season as the most hated player on the roster.  But Russ has been and still can be great in this league… It’s not his fault the Lakers GM screwed the eternal pooch by not knowing Russell isn’t a great shooter.  Everyone else knows his value is getting to the rim and either scoring or kicking.  Watch his cook and laugh at the Lakers management for not knowing that he doesn’t fit with Bron… but its not because he can’t ball.

Blazers: SF Josh Hart.  Josh has had an odd journey through the league. Clipper, Pelican, Blazer… He is a 6’5 SG who is a good shooter and has always been where they need him to play either less minutes or out of position. He will be the starting SF for the Blazers until they find someone else… The man was an Eagle Scout.  He will do his job and give his full effort. But what he really needs is to play SG after the team wisens up and trades Anfernee Simons for a starting small forward.  

Lakers: Darvin “help me” Ham

Blazers: Chauncey “what's cooler than cold?... Me” Billups