Portland Trail Blazers vs San Antonio Spurs Prediction: Crestfallen Portland takes on inexperienced Spurs

The NBA trade deadline is just two weeks away or so and I can’t emphasize that. There are a lot of explorations being undertaken by the management to better the depth of their squads and goals vary from the squad to squad. Some look to capture more depth while others look to build big-term. Players, picks, and cash considerations are all in full flow during this alluring window. And the Portland Trail Blazers may make some moves too. They will meet the San Antonio Spurs here.

Portland comes into the affair after losing 112:121 against tthe LA Lakers despite a 31 points performance by Anfernee Simons. This game sums up their season, they were up by 25 at the half and then ended up scoring just 41 in the second half, playing shoddy basketball late in the game. This inability to hold big leads and also their inability to cut leads has led the astray and they now have just 21 wins and have stacked up 25 losses.

The Trail Blazers’ issues stem from two problems when they defend well, they don’t play reliable offense and vice-versa. The team is blessed with a lot of talent but lacks the depth to compete against elite teams and after suffering on road, their woes have carried to the home games. This means that the team must be following the trade market closely. Will they trade Nurkic to get a strong Wing or a dynamic scorer off the bench? Their bench has been abysmal.

The Spurs enter the game after losing 125:131 against the Clippers despite a 23 points performance by Keldon Johnson. The Spurs have lost nine out of their last 11 games which has become a theme for them this season. They have fumbled to 32 losses and 14 wins, clearly heading to the lottery at this point. This is an expected outcome from a unit that lacks the experience to compete in the loaded league.

Despite their struggles, the Spurs are a top-three team in terms of assists per game(27.1), thanks to the distribution heavy basketball propagated by coach Greg Popovich. However, they have perhaps the worst defense in the league, regularly giving up 120+ points and their inside defense has been especially vulnerable. So far, three major long-term players seem to be Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Jeremy Sochan.

The Trail Blazers played last night and squandered a game they should have won which can have a huge impact on their psyche. However, they will counter a Spurs team that has been way too inconsistent. It will be interesting to see how Portland bounces back after a historic collapse but they will get plenty of chances against a struggling Spurs defense. That is why I back them to winning with a scoreline of 122:114.