Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Predictions, Odds, Picks

VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert

6 minute read

Oct. 25, 2021

Michael Crosson
VI Betting Expert
VegasInsider.com

Nationally televised NBA coverage will conclude on Monday night with a blockbuster showdown at the Staples Center, as Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers will take on Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers. Coverage begins at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBATV.

Score Prediction

Blazers 119, Clippers 116

Best Bets

Portland +3

Damian Lillard (POR/PG) – Over Points 29.5 Points (-110)

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Predictions

After a long offseason plagued by organizational uncertainty, Portland stumbled out to a surprisingly underwhelming start to the new season, as the Blazers hosted Sacramento on opening night – and dropped a heartbreaker, as Lillard missed a potential game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer to conclude Wednesday’s contest (L, 124-121).

Portland stayed home for its second matchup of the year, and while things certainly weren’t easier for them, the Blazers finally looked like the dynamic team everybody fell in love with the last few seasons – as Lillard and company hosted Phoenix on Saturday night, and ran them out of the building by 29 (W, 134-105).

On the other hand, L. A.’s season-opener against Golden State was undeniably wild, considering the Warriors jumped out to a 44-27 first quarter-lead – which was then quickly erased by the Clippers, as they entered the halftime break somehow boasting a one-point lead.

Ultimately, the Warriors prevailed in the second half behind a magnificent effort from Steph Curry (45 PTS, 8-13 3P), but the Clippers managed to keep things just close enough so their bettors could narrowly escape with a backdoor cover on opening night (115-113, LAC +3).

Clippers’ bettors weren’t so fortunate in their latest matchup though, as Ty Lue’s squad traveled back to the Staples Center as four-point home favorites over the visiting Grizzlies – but couldn’t quite handle the wrath of the young Memphis backcourt, as Ja Morant and De’Anthony Melton combined for 50 points on 19-of-35 from the floor during the Grizzlies’ road-upset over L. A. this past Saturday (L, 120-114).

I’ll take the points with Portland here, as the Clippers are noticeably struggling through the absence of Kawhi Leonard – while the Blazers just blew out the reigning conference champs without receiving much help from Lillard (19 PTS, 6-11 FG).

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Betting Odds

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Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Betting Resources

Matchup: Northwest vs. Pacific
Date: Monday, October 25, 2021
Venue: STAPLES Center
Location: Los Angeles, California
TV-Time: NBATV - 10:30 p.m. ET

Portland Trail Blazers Betting Analysis

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

SU: 1-1
ATS: 1-1
O/U: 2-0

After getting eliminated by Denver in the first round of last year’s playoffs, the future direction of Portland’s organization suddenly reached complete ambiguity, as many believed the Blazers would test out the trade market with their most valuable assets during the offseason.

Portland failed to reach a significant agreement before the start of the season though, so it looks like the Blazers are electing to run back their same squad again – which honestly, is probably best for the league.

The Blazers don’t currently stand as legitimate title-contenders, considering Portland spent the length of the previous two seasons scratching and clawing to earn a playoff spot.

If the Blazers toss one more superstar into the equation though, the sky could be the limit for Portland – so I’d hate to see them blow up everything now.

Los Angeles Clippers Betting Analysis

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

SU: 0-2
ATS: 1-1
O/U: 1-1

Many bettors wrote off the Clippers immediately following Kawhi’s devastating knee injury in the second round of last year’s playoffs – but it turned out, they didn’t really need him, as L.A. decisively handled business against Utah for the remainder of that series, and then went toe-to-toe with Phoenix for the length of a competitive six-game WCF set.

L.A. appears somewhat lost without Kawhi to kick off the new season though, considering the Clippers currently rank 20th in FG% and 21 st in 3P% following their opening pair of matchups (43.6% FG, 34.2% 3P) – which is an enormous step backward compared to last year’s squad that ranked 5th in FG% and 1st in 3P% (48% FG, 40.5% 3P).

The Clippers have lost two straight games. (AP)

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Head-to-Head

The Clippers and Blazers matched up three times during last year’s regular season, and the Clippers won all three of those affairs.

Over-analyzing the latest results between these teams likely isn’t the wisest strategy heading into Monday night though, considering Lillard didn’t participate in one contest – and in the other two, he averaged just 15.5 PPG on a combined 5-of-28 FG attempts (17.9% FG), which is an incredibly rare occurrence for Portland’s superstar.

Key Players to Watch

POR: Damian Lillard - PG (19.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 9.5 apg)
POR: C.J. McCollum - SG (31 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3 apg)
LAC: Paul George - SG (35 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 5 apg)
LAC: Reggie Jackson - PG (14 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg)

Injuries

POR: Tony Snell - SF (Out)
POR: Norman Powell - SF (Out)
LAC: Keon Johnson - SG (DTD)
LAC: Serge Ibaka - C (Out)

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Betting Conclusion

After falling to Memphis in their home-opener at the Staples Center on Saturday night, the Clippers will head into their second home matchup slightly favored over the visiting Blazers – marking the first time Portland has been an underdog this year.

I’ll take the points with the Blazers here, as Portland blew out Phoenix as three-point favorites on Saturday night despite receiving only 19 PTS from Lillard (POR -3) – and the Clippers were clearly no match for Phoenix during the absence of Kawhi in last year’s playoffs.