Trail Blazers vs. Raptors Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread
All-Star Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers can complete the season sweep of the Toronto Raptors on Sunday in Tampa, Fla., with Portland and new addition Norman Powell making their lone visit of the season.
Portland opened as slim 2-point favourites to win on the NBA odds.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The NBA schedule-makers did the Raptors no favours on this three-game homestand as they faced a very good Denver team and All-Star Nikola Jokic, a very good Phoenix team and All-Stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker, and now a good Portland team and All-Star Damian Lillard. Life in the Western Conference is definitely much tougher.
These teams made a notable trade Thursday with the Dinos sending Norman Powell to Portland for Rodney Hood and Gary Trent Jr., as the Raptors got something for Powell before he hit free agency.
Toronto looks to avoid a season sweep by Portland for the first time since the 2014-15 season. It’s very rare to lose (or win) NBA games 24 hours apart by one point, but the Raptors accomplished that on Jan. 10 in San Francisco vs. the Warriors (106-105) and then the next night against Portland, 112-111. Both games went to the final seconds, with Blazers guard CJ McCollum hitting the go-ahead jumper with 9.6 seconds remaining. He finished with 30 points while Lillard added 23.
The Dinos led by as many as 17 points, and Pascal Siakam had his first career triple-double with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists – but he missed the potential game-winning shot on the final play just as he had done the night previous against Golden State.
Toronto is 7-3 straight up in the past 10 meetings and 5-5 against the spread.
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland is going for the Florida three-game sweep here. The Blazers avoided a trap game Friday in the second of a back-to-back (after winning in Miami on Friday) and won 112-105 in Orlando. Superstar Damian Lillard is a bit banged up, so he got the night off, but we expect him to play here. Former Raptor Norman Powell had 22 points in his Trail Blazers debut, and centre Jusuf Nurkic played for the first time since Jan. 14 due to injury and had eight points and eight rebounds. He will be on a minutes limit for a while.
Toronto Raptors
We have to share this statistic. Gary Trent started his career in Portland and averaged 10 points per game before being traded to Toronto 41 games into his third season (1997-98). His son, Gary Trent Jr., also started his career in Portland and averaged 10 points per game before being traded to Toronto 41 games into his third season on Thursday. The Dinos lost 104-100 in Tampa to Phoenix on Friday, with Trent Jr. scoring eight points in 31 minutes in his debut after the Norman Powell deal. Fellow trade acquisition Rodney Hood had two points in 18 minutes. Chris Boucher’s struggles continued with five points in 12 minutes and there is friction with Boucher and Coach Nick Nurse.
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