Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction: Slump-ridden Trail Blazers take on better-looking Lakers

The NBA trade deadline and buyout season have been in full flow. This means that a lot of players have been moved at an electric rate. The landscape has changed dramatically with Irving and Durant shifting to the West. One team that was busy in the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers is going to take on the Portland Trail Blazers.

Portland comes into the game after losing 129:138 against the Thunder despite a 38 points outburst by Damian Lillard. The Trail Blazers have now lost three of their four games and this has been a rather difficult period, where they have 29 losses and 27 wins. The Trail Blazers didn’t make any impactful move as such, and yes, Matisse Thybulle brings defensive value, but is he the type of player that can propel a team to the Playoffs side? Tough to say. The team also shipped Josh Hart and then Gary Payton II in a controversial move. I don’t know what plan they are clinging to, but whatever may be the case, they will need to pick their game at this point.

The Lakers come into this game after defeating the Warriors 109:103 as Dennis Schroeder pumped in 26 points. Los Angeles’ win helped curbed a three-game losing streak. The squad looks much more balanced after acquiring D’Angelo Russell who addresses the need for a long-range shooter. Malik Beasley does the same and Jarred Vanderbilt also gives depth as a hustling Forward. LeBron and AD are all-time greats but they needed some consistent role players around them. The Lakers are seated with 26 wins and 31 losses, so their work is cut out. But the move to bring in Russell, Beasley, and Vanderbilt may mean that this is a preparation for next season.

• Lakers:QUESTIONABLE: LeBron James Jr. PROBABLE: Anthony Davis;
• Trail Blazers: OUT: Jusuf Nurkic, Ibou Badji, Justise Winslow. QUESTIONABLE: Jerami Grant. PROBABLE: Trendon Watford, Matisse Thybulle, Kevin Knox, Keon Johnson.

The Trail Blazers’ woes are exacerbated by the absence of Nurkic and after trading away Payton and Hart, I don’t see any substantial upgrades for this squad. On other hand, the Lakers have earned praise for the moves they made and they look deeper, but the question is can this unit gel in the long term? I believe it will gel here. I predict a scoreline of 123:120 in favor of the Lakers.