There are 10 games on the NBA betting board this Friday, with none more important for the playoff picture than a showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.
The two teams are tied for sixth place in the Western Conference and the squad that finishes the regular season at No. 7 will be forced into the play-in series.
With the Lakers once again without LeBron James, they come into this contest as 8.5-point road underdogs. Here are our best free Lakers vs. Trail Blazers picks and predictions for Friday, May 7, with tipoff at 10 p.m. ET.
Lakers vs Trail Blazers odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NBA Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonPointsBet USA pegged Portland a 6.5-point favorite overnight, stretched to -8.5, backed up to -7.5 and is at -8 as of 7:30 p.m. ET. The Trail Blazers are nabbing 68 percent of point-spread tickets, and the Lakers are landing 54 percent of spread dollars. The total is up to 223 from a 221.5 opener, with interesting splits, considering the move up: 53 percent of tickets are on the Over, and 66 percent of cash is on the Under.
Check out the full line movement for this gameLakers at Trail Blazers betting preview
Injuries
Lakers: Anthony Davis PF (Probable), LeBron James SF (Out), Dennis Schroder PG (Out), Talen Horton-Tucker SG (Questionable).
Trail Blazers: Norman Powell SG (Probable).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 24-11-1 in the Lakers' last 36 road games. Find more NBA betting trends for Lakers vs. Trail Blazers.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
After the highly-anticipated return of LeBron James from a six-week absence last Friday, the Lakers will once again be without the superstar after he reaggravated his ankle injury. Although All-NBA power forward Anthony Davis is expected to play despite leaving last night's game early with back spasms, Dennis Schroder will be out again for health protocols.
Schroder is third on the team with 15.5 points per game and second with 5.8 assists per game, and without him and LeBron, the Lakers will have a difficult time creating offense.
Davis missed a large chunk of the season as well but even with "The Brow" back in the lineup, the Lakers have struggled to score. Los Angeles is putting up just 103.9 ppg in eight games since Davis returned to action, and covered the spread just once during that span.
The Blazers are red-hot at the moment, returning from an East Coast road trip where they went 5-1 SU and ATS, with each of those wins coming by double digits. They averaged a whopping 129.17 ppg over that six-game stretch while shooting a sizzling 50.3 percent from the field.
Led by Damian Lillard with his 28.4 points and 7.6 assists per game, the Blazers are fifth in the league in scoring with 115.7 ppg. Don't expect the Lakers' offense to be able to keep pace with the Blazers in this one, back Portland to win and cover.
PREDICTION: Portland -8.5 (-110)
Over/Under pick
The Over/Under is a tough one to figure out because you have a low-scoring, strong defensive squad in the Lakers and a high-scoring, lax-defense team in the Blazers.
However, when these teams met up previously in February, they combined for just 195 points and have now cashed the Under in five of the last seven games in the head-to-head.
Without their two best ball-handlers, the Lakers won't be able to move the ball and AD will be left trying to carry the offensive burden. But expect last year's Defensive Player of the Year runner-up to have a bigger impact on the other end of the floor, where he anchors a Lakers D that allows the second-fewest points per game (106.6) in the NBA.
The Lakers have been the league's best Under bet all season and have gone 24-11-1 to the Under in their last 36 games on the road. Meanwhile, the Blazers have gone 8-3 to the Under in their previous 11 contests at home.
Neither of these teams will be happy if they drop into the play-in series, where back-to-back losses would eliminate them outright. With so much at stake in this game, expect a playoff atmosphere with defensive intensity and back the Under.
PREDICTION: Under 221.5 (-110)
First Quarter Prop Pick
The Blazers come out of the gate on fire, leading the NBA with 30.9 points per game during the first quarter.
The Lakers are one of the league's slowest-starting squads, ranking 24th with 27.5 first quarter ppg and mustering just 20 points in the first 12 minutes of last night's contest against the Clippers.
Expect another fast start from the Blazers and back them on the first-quarter spread.
PREDICTION: First Quarter Portland -2.5 (-110)
Lakers vs Trail Blazers betting card
- Portland -8.5 (-110)
- Under 221.5 (-110)
- First Quarter Spread Portland -2.5 (-110)
Picks made on 5/07/2021 at 11:25 a.m. ET
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