NBA Betting Picks – New Orleans Hornets at Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers (10-6 SU, 9-7 ATS) really think they are in a position to make a strong move toward playoff status this season, with some great new personnel. On Friday night they will face one of the Western Conference’s acknowledged power teams, the New Orleans Hornets (9-5 SU, 5-8-1 ATS) in NBA pro basketball sports betting action that is set to tip off at 10 PM ET at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR.
BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: PORTLAND -5, Total 187.5
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NO has won four of its last five games SU
* NO is 3-7-1 ATS in its last ten games
* NO has won five of its last seven road games SU
* PORT has won four of its last five games SU
* PORT has covered seven of its last ten games
* PORT has played six of its last eight games UNDER the total
* PORT has won its last nine home games SU
* PORT has covered eight of its last ten home games
* PORT has played its last four home games UNDER the total
Also…
* NO has won four of the last six meetings SU
* The last four meetings have gone UNDER the total
* PORT has won and covered the last four meetings as the home team
* Four of the last five meetings in Portland have gone UNDER the total
* NO has had the rebounding edge in each of the last six meetings
* PORT has made more three-pointers in five of the last seven meetings
Portland’s last game, against the Miami Heat, may have been its most impressive performance of the season. The Blazers, who won the game 106-68, out-rebounded Miami by a 55-28 margin, held the Heat to 34.5% shooting, and 10.5% from three-point range, and stymied Dwyane Wade, holding him to 12 points. Greg Oden had 10 points and ten rebounds in 25 minutes, and three players off the bench scored in double digits for Portland. Sergio Rodriguez did not score, but had 11 assists off the bench.
One of the keys to the progress of this Portland team, which won 14 games in a row at one point last season but failed to make the playoffs, is the performance of Oden, the #1 choice in last year’s draft who sat out the entire season with an injury. He’s being brought along slowly, and hasn’t reached the 30-minute mark yet, but has had four games where he has grabbed ten rebounds or more. And in the previous meeting with New Orleans, on November 14, he had 11 boards and four blocked shots.
It is doubtful there have been many teams in recent years who have brought the kind of rookie talent onto their roster as Portland has this season, when you consider Oden, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless are all in their first NBA seasons.
New Orleans really had to extend itself in Denver last night, turning around a fourth-quarter deficit to win in a thriller. And coming out of that altitude might be tough. Portland has a real home court edge, having nine straight wins and eight covers in the last ten. We expect that they will be ready, with the bothersome Oden in tow, for this revenge game. We’ll lay the points with Portland, the five-point favorite in the BetUS NBA pro basketball betting odds.
