Portland Trail Blazers vs San Antonio Spurs Prediction: The Trail Blazers have displayed amazing grit

The NBA Regular Season is on and this has been a fascinating start to the season. There have been a lot of intriguing battles and there is no doubt that we are bound to see the heat rise up even further. The injury list will also stack up at a high rate and the squads that have remained injury-free are as lucky as they get. Anyway, in this game, the Portland Trail Blazers will take on the San Antonio Spurs.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers lost 112:117 to the Mavericks despite a 37 points outburst by Jerami Grant. The loss came after an impressive three-game winning streak where the Blazers had beaten the Heat, the Hornets, and the Pelicans. The Trail Blazers’ defense has been one of the best in the league and they have surely been bolstered after inserting Jerami Grant and Josh Hart in the starting lineup as the perimeter and the inside both are locked. This defensive work has elevated Portland which has been thirsty for defense for tears now.

With Lillard, you will get the usual 30-feet shots, amazing drives and a floor action that will aid the likes of Anfernee Simons, who can take advantage of the defenses sticking on Lillard. Grant’s driving game and in-between game means Lillard has to just zip in passes. The Trail Blazers have been in for a big season and with Nurkic in the middle, they can pin down boards while Grant is also a big help on that end. The bench is a bit thin while Drew Eubanks has worked himself into the rotation.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs come into this game after losing 95:132 as they keep on stumbling on the offensive end. After a five-wins and two losses start, they have lost six out of their last seen games and now you can feel that this is a rebuilding unit. The Spurs’ offense looked fluid early on as they breached the 30 assists mark repeatedly but now the zip is gone and they are struggling to make ends meet. One of the major reasons for their downfall has been their porous perimeter defense.

Keldon Johnson has been going at an electric rate, scoring 20 or more at a high clip and his three-point shooting has been on. Despite that, the Spurs’ rotation has been on and off. The team needs a spark on the defensive end but it doens’t seem to happen anytime soon. The Spurs are staring at a lottery-bound season which is in par with the expectations. They have neither the depth nor the tenacity of the Blazers so this can be a long season for their players.

Injuries

• Trail Blazers: OUT: Keon Johnson, Gary Payton II, Olivier Sarr. QUESTIONABLE: Justise Winslow, Jusuf Nurkic;
• Spurs: OUT: Zach Collins, Blake Wesley.

Player Props

• Expected Leading Scorers: Damian Lillard(30+ Points), Keldon Johnson(20-25 Points), Anfernee Simons(18-24 Points), Jerami Grant(17-23 Points);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Damian Lillard(8+ Assists);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Josh Hart(8-11 Rebounds), Jakob Poeltl(9-12 Rebounds), Jerami Grant(7-10 Rebounds).

Expert Betting Tips

The Trail Blazers’ defense has been on fire and their offense has been amazing considering Simons and Lillard can put on an offensive show. Jerami Grant has fit well into this system and with him and Hart, the oppositions look lost trying to sustain a big attack. Hart does need to be more offensively consistent but that is fine, he can afford lapses on that end due to his tenacious nature on defense and rebounding. I believe all these factors would result in a Trail Blazers by a big margin. The Points Range can be 220-230.