Senior Writer Vegas Matty of OffshoreInsiders.com previews San Antonio Spurs (57-14) at Portland Trail Blazers (41-30). Portland is -3 with a total of 192 on NBA spread.
The San Antonio Spurs (57-14) do not have much to play for down the stretch of the NBA regular season, all but locking up the top seed in the Western Conference playoff race with the league’s best record. The Spurs will also be playing without future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan for the third time in four games when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers (41-30) on Friday during the second stop of a three-game road trip.
Duncan is likely out the rest of the regular season with a sprained ankle, which means San Antonio will continue to be defensively challenged in the middle against opponents with a talented big man. Portland is one of those teams with 6-foot-11 forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who has averaged 18.8 points per game against the Spurs during his career. Aldridge is also averaging a career-best 22.2 points per game this season and scored a career-high 40 points with 11 rebounds in the last meeting, resulting in a 99-86 home win.
The Trail Blazers have won the last five home meetings in the series and are 8-2 against the spread in the past 10 games between the teams overall. They also bring a five-game home winning streak into this matchup both straight-up and ATS and have covered five in a row overall as well. The team is coming off a 111-76 rout of Washington on Tuesday behind Gerald Wallace’s game-high 28 points, which is his best performance since joining Portland at the trade deadline.
San Antonio blew a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter on Wednesday at Denver en route to a disappointing 115-112 loss but still covered the 5.5-point spread. The Spurs led by double digits at times and were playing their first game without Duncan due to injury after he rested two games earlier. Rookie Gary Neal scored a career-high 25 points against the Nuggets while Manu Ginobili added 20.
Bettors might see another high-scoring game here despite the fact that the UNDER has cashed five times in the last six meetings. The Blazers have scored 110 points or more in three of their last four games, topping the century mark in four of the past five. San Antonio has totaled at least 108 points in six of its last eight games with the OVER going 5-3. Two of the three games that went UNDER for the Spurs were due to the opposition being held to 96 points or less.
Top expert pick on today’s card: Monday, the Canadian Sports Crew nails the San Antonio Spurs as the NBA Best Bet of the Year. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday they sweep including the Connecticut Huskies destroying San Diego State as the NCAA Tournament Lock of the Year. Now get two more Sweet 16 winners including Kentucky-Ohio State as NCAA Tournament Lock of the Year, Part 2.
Just keep winning with the Sports Crew. Another winning card for the Sweet 16 is up.