Portland Trail Blazers vs Detroit Pistons Prediction: Portland are overwhelming favorites

The NBA Regular Season train is choo-chooing at an electric rate and this has been another fascinating season to load us with a bunch of amazing battles. While the favorites usually will come on top, it is more than about wins and there are handicaps and total related predictions involved too. Those will be in full play when the Portland Trail Blazers are going to take on the Detroit Pistons in a cross-Conference match-up.

The Trail Blazers enter the game after losing to the Warriors 112:118 despite a 34 points performance by Damian Lillard. The Trail Blazers built an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter but had no answer for the Warriors’ defense late in the game. This was Portland’s fourth loss in five games and due to that, they are just a game above the 50% win mark with 18 wins and 17 losses.

The recent window involved the majority of games away from home which has set Portland back which was riding the hot hand of Damian Lillard. They began the season with nine wins and three losses but have lost 14 and won just nine games after that, mostly when Damian got injured. However, Damian is active again but Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant need to recover their earlier hot form.

The Pistons stunned the Timberwolves and registered a 116:104 win behind Bojan Bogdanovic’s 28 points output. This is only the second time in the season that Detroit has won two of their three games, and their record of 29 losses and 10 wins says it all. They were in for a long season but at this point, the rebuild is heading into the Kings’ territory, where the rebuild never ends.

Bojan Bogdanovic has led the scoring effort, being the most reliable shooter on the team. Sophomore All-Around Guard Cade Cunningham has been inactive, hurting the balance. Jaden Ivey has had some solid games but he is just a rookie. Jalen Duren has been clapping rebounds at a high rate, and as a rookie, he has showcased impressive hops. It will be interesting to see how Detroit builds in the next offseason.

• Trail Blazers: OUT: Justise Winslow, Nasir Little. QUESTIONABLE: Jusuf Nurkic, Keon Johnson, Greg Brown III;
• Pistons: OUT: Killian Hayes, Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Livers.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Damian Lillard(30+ Points), Bojan Bogdanovic(23-29 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Jalen Duren(10-13 Rebounds), Josh Hart(9-11 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Damian Lillard(6-9 Assists), Josh Hart(5-8 Assists).

Portland has been struggling a bit these days and coming back at home, they will have to win here before going on a three-game road trip again. While the Pistons had a shock win against the Wolves away from home, they will be in for a tough and much deeper Trail Blazers squad. Shutting down Lillard may not be enough here for the Pistons and that is why I predict a 125:110 in favor of Portland.