An NBA series & game day preview between the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers.
Series Start: August 18, 2020
Where: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex – Kissimmee, FL
TV: Tuesday – 9:00 PM EST | TNT
Thursday – 9:00 PM EST | ESPN
Saturday – 8:30 PM EST | ABC
August 24th – 9:00 PM EST | TNT
8/26 (If Necessary) – TBD
8/28 (If Necessary) – TBD
8/30 (If Necessary) – TBD
Series Odds: LAL -500
Game One Odds: LAL -6 O/U 230.5
Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 35-39
Los Angeles Lakers
Record: 52-19
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers Series/Game Day Preview
The Portland Trail Blazers take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a first round playoff match-up in the Western Conference. Besides the Clippers/Mavericks series, this is without a doubt the most exciting first round match-up. The Lakers have Lebron James, arguably the greatest basketball player of the all-time, and best big man in basketball, Anthony Davis. Opposing them on the Blazers are Damian Lillard, one of the top stars in the NBA and MVP of the NBA Bubble Seeding games, and star guard, CJ McCollum. Los Angeles took the season series versus Portland 2-1.
Trail Blazers
While the Lakers are one of the big favorites to win the NBA Championship this year, you have to wonder if any team can stop Damian Lillard right now. Since arriving at the bubble in Disney, Damian Lillard has looked like the best player in all of basketball. To beat the Lakers, Lillard needs to continue to score 40, 50 points a night to give the Blazers a shot. And if the Lakers guard the star point guard like Memphis did this past Saturday, Lillard needs to find his open teammates for the easy shots. Lillard averaged over 36 points a game against the Lakers this season so expect more of that. Also expect his assists to be up as well and for CJ McCollum to score more than his average of 22 points a game. McCollum will be the go-to target when Lillard is double teamed.
Lakers
All the pressure is on Lakers in these playoffs. Lebron James got what he wanted when the Los Angeles acquired Anthony Davis last summer and now he has to prove he can win with another star at his side. The Lakers have not played well in the NBA Bubble and many people are curious if that will carry into the playoffs. Portland is coming into this series with so much momentum that James and Davis will have to be at the top their game if they don’t want to get bounced in the first round. There will be a lot of shooting and scoring in these games so AD will easily have double-doubles every game. As for Lebron, he will be in playoff mode so 30+ points every game is almost a given. I would not be shocked if he averaged a triple double this series due to the fast paced, high scoring nature each of these games will be.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers Facts & Fantasy Basketball Predictions
Trail Blazers vs. Lakers Facts
- The TOTAL has gone OVER in Portland’s last 6 games.
- Los Angeles is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games.
- The TOTAL went OVER in all 3 meetings between Portland and Los Angeles during the 2019/2020 regular season.
StatementGames Fantasy Basketball Picks
- CJ McCollum OVER 22.5 PTS
- Lebron James OVER 25.5 PTS
- Damian Lillard OVER 6.5 Assists
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