With a 3-0 straight up and against the spread record over the last three games of the postseason, the Portland Trail Blazers have surged ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers in their best-of-seven series. The Trail Blazers can wrap up the series with a win at home against the Clippers in Game 6.
Clippers vs. Trail Blazers, NBA playoff 2016 odds: Portland a double-digit Game 6 favorite
The Portland Trail Blazers can wrap up their series against the injury-plagued Los Angeles Clippers with a win in Game 6 on Friday night.
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Portland is a 10-point favorite on Friday night according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Clippers are 1-29 straight up and 11-18-1 against the spread in their last 30 games as a double-digit underdog.
One of the most impressive aspects of Portland's three-game winning streak is the contributions that the Trail Blazers are getting from the supporting cast around Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Maurice Harkless and Mason Plumlee combined for 29 points in Portland's 108-98 Game 5 win, and in Game 4 Al-Farouq Aminu scored 30 points on a night where Lillard and McCollum combined for only 31. This team relies on its two star guards for offense, but could be dangerous moving forward if the rest of the team plays at a high level as well.
The Trail Blazers haven’t had much success in covering big spreads in recent seasons going just 6-15-1 ATS in their last 22 games as a double-digit favorite per the OddsShark NBA Database.
The Clippers won the first two games of this series by at least 20 points, and appeared to be on their way to a sweep into the second round. Instead, the Clippers lost Game 3, and things got even worse in Game 4 when both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were lost for the postseason with injuries.
Game 5’s 108-98 home loss was an illustration of how undermanned the Clippers are without these two stars; even with a strong effort and a first half lead, Los Angeles still couldn’t keep this game within reach. The Clippers are 5-10 SU and 6-9 ATS in their last 15 games as a road underdog.
Friday’s total is set at 198 points on the betting lines at the sportsbooks. The UNDER is 5-1 in the last six games between these two teams.
The writing appears to be on the wall for this year’s Clippers team, which doesn’t look built to win this key road game without its two best players. But with a veteran-laden group, Los Angeles will at least try to be a tough out and push the Trail Blazers as best as they can.
