Golden State Warriors vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction: The Warriors are too tough at home but Trail Blazers have a lot of scorers

The NBA Regular Season is in full flow. This has been a fascinating season where we have seen a bunch of intriguing battles already. As we progress toward midseason, we are going to see a lot of trades, injuries, and fatigue seeping in. This is a window where those who are left behind can get a big run going considering months’ long bonding. In another NBA affair, the Golden State Warriors will host the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Warriors come into this game after defeating the Utah Jazz 112:107 as heroic Guard Jordan Poole stacked 26 points as his string of 25+ Points Games continued. Because of this scoring, the Warriors have received a boost and it is clear that Poole is a starter who does best as one of the prime focus in the offense. He took some time to adjust but with Klay Thompson showing his rejuvenation now and then, the backcourt duo is getting it done, averaging 45+ as a backcourt regularly.

But an even bigger factor than Poole is the home-court advantage, just like last season. But the trouble is that this season, the Warriors have looked like a B-tier team away from home, losing 3 of their 19 road games, which makes for a below 20% win rate. As for home, here the returns are almost as good at last year, winning 15 of their 17 games! Their record of 18 wins and losses is an anomaly for me. They lost away from home even with Curry doing all in his power. The Warriors need Curry whether they win or lose.

The Trail Blazers enter the game after defeating the lowly Hornets 124:113. This was a big win and came at the right time, but the one where Portland was expected to win anyway. Trail Blazers haven’t played well in the second half of the month, losing four of their last six games, twice to the Thunder, but yeah those losses were against formidable units too and during a six-game road stretch too. Here, Portland has actually done much better than the Warriors as they have a more than decent 10 wins in 20 games.

The thing is in the earlier parts of the month, Lillard was having both efficient and high-scoring nights. His production has sometimes slimmed but to be honest, without him, the Trail Blazers were hurtling towards a losing record. Lillard is the spiritual leader of the team most probably. I like the promise with this team. Grant and Simons may have slowed down but I expect one of them to step it up at least. With Hart as the defensive and hustle enforcer, who is also a careful scorer who shoots a high percentage, a developing Eubanks, and veteran Jusuf Nurkic, Portland has brought more smiles to the Trail Blazers fanbase than last season.

• Warriors: OUT: Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, JaMychal Green, Andre Iguodala. PROBABLE: Donte DiVincenzo;
• Trail Blazes: OUT: Nasir Little, Keon Johnson, Greg Brown III. QUESTIONABLE: Jusuf Nurkic.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Damian Lillard(32-38 Points), Jordan Poole(27-34 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Josh Hart(8-11 Rebounds), Draymond Green(8-11 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Damian Lillard(7-10 Assists), Jordan Poole(5-8 Assists).

Even though coach Kerr must be dearly missing Curry, I think as a coach he must be enjoying this. He has now got the chance to use Jordan Poole as his primary option and try out options like Anthony Lamb, Ty Jerome, and Donte DiVincenzo. For the Trail Blazers, if Grant and Simons combine for around 45 regularly, I think Portland will get it done. I expect big things from Dame in this game and I have a strong belief that he has a big game for me. That is why I expect Portland to flip the script and grab a 113:107 win here.