A pair of struggling teams square off on Tuesday night when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the New Orleans Pelicans.
Portland is not off to such an ideal start, as injuries and all of its free-agent changes have cost it significantly. Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless did not add much on the offensive end, but it is clear just how valuable they were to the team by how the Trail Blazers have performed without them around. With Zach Collins out of the lineup, they have no significant backup that can take over for him, with the lack of depth something that has caused them to lose several times.
New Orleans, on the other hand, has had a large stroke of bad luck over the last two weeks. Everybody on the team, quite literally, is dealing with some sort of injury, so the young guys at the end of the bench have been forced into big minutes. As it stands now, Jahlil Okafor, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart will all be out, while Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors will be listed as questionable. And while they still play competitive ball, even with all of these guys out, this will be a hard game.
The spread for Tuesday night favors the struggling Blazers by four points, while the over/under is set at 232.5 points. The moneyline on the Blazers is set to -178, while it is +150 for the Pelicans.
Portland Looking For Some Rhythm
The Trail Blazers still have Damian Lillard posting monster numbers every night, and CJ McCollum is the number two guy behind him. But outside of them, there was no star power or third player to rely on to get baskets. But in comes Carmelo Anthony now, ready to make his team debut. Anthony played in 10 games for Houston last season after a lost year with Oklahoma City the season prior. We’ll see if he can help the team to get going and maybe find their rhythm now. When they get Jusuf Nurkic back later in the year, they will be a tough out, but for now, there is work to be done.
Hassan Whiteside has been playing well for Portland, but there will always be a limit to what his upside can be based on what his attitude has shown us in the past.
Pelicans Try To Get It Going
With health being a serious problem, we still have not seen what this team can do. Zion Williamson is yet to debut while Ball has missed several games already, the main theme of his young career. And as Ingram started scoring at will, he got hurt. They even lost Frank Jackson to injury in their last game, making it tougher. Kenrich Williams and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are the only guys to play in every game through the first 13. So, who can step up for these guys in this one?
It is hard to say just what can help them get it done, but let’s see if Jrue Holiday can get it going.
Portland Dominates The Game
Well, there will finally be a win for the Blazers that is going to be a complete effort. The depleted Pelicans will take another defeat.
Free Play: POR -4
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.