Two Hot Teams Collide As Blazers Visit Lakers | IXGAMES

The Portland Trail Blazers have won four of their last five games. The Los Angeles Lakers have won their last five games. Two teams on the right track will meet each other this Friday night. Portland Trail Blazers @ Los Angeles Lakers – Friday, December 28 Sport betting line: no line Why Portland Will Win With an online horse betting guru or a college football betting expert, the calculus of a given event can sometimes depend on the way the field is performing, or on how the opponent is shaping up when game time arrives. In this contest, though, the case for the Trail Blazers depends not on the opponent, but on the Blazers themselves. Portland is very much hanging in; the Blazers are staying in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt. A young team is learning how to play together, showing an admirable degree of cohesion at the offensive end of the floor. Portland ran out of gas this past Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, but that loss was partly a result of mental fatigue accrued in the process of producing a four-game winning streak. Portland will play this game on Friday against the Lakers having played only twice in a five-day stretch. The Blazers should be physically and mentally fresh for this game. Given the performances of point guard Damian Lillard, one of the bright young stars in the world of professional basketball, the Blazers have the speed and the dribble penetration that can break down the Lakers’ inconsistent defense. Portland beat the Lakers in the first week of the season, and that was when Steve Nash – who will play for Los Angeles on Friday – was a part of the Lakers’ lineup. Surely, Portland can repeat the feat this weekend on the Lakers’ home court. Why Los Angeles Will Win Online football betting students, not just basketball junkies, will be cognizant of the fact that the Lakers are beginning to figure things out at the defensive end of the floor. Defense has been the Lakers’ weak spot this season under head coach Mike D’Antoni. The process of adjusting to D’Antoni’s system after the firing of head coach Mike Brown has necessarily forced the Lakers to take a few steps back before being able to move forward. People in and around the organization, not to mention people in and around the NBA as a whole, knew that things were going to get worse in Los Angeles before they got better. Well, things did get worse, and now they are in fact getting better. The Lakers held the potent New York Knicks to just 16 fourth-quarter points, thereby winning a big Christmas Day showdown in Los Angeles. Steve Nash is back on the floor and in the lineup, and since Nash runs D’Antoni’s offense better than any other player in the league (dating back to his days with the Phoenix Suns), the Lakers should indeed gain a lot more continuity at both ends of the court. The Lakers are finding themselves and are shrugging off the distractions and other disjointing moments they’ve had over the first two months of the season. This newly-discovered form should enable the Lakers to dispose of Portland on Friday. Who Will Win? The sense here is that with two teams playing well at the same time, the Lakers’ quality and talent should win the day. Playing at home will help the Lakers as well – they are on their way back to the top tier of the Western Conference, it seems. Click here to get more information on the latest basketball betting odds. NBA Betting Pick: Los Angeles Lakers