NBA Wednesday and we will see the Los Angeles Lakers travel to Portland, Oregon to take on the Portland Trailblazers. The game is scheduled for a 10:35 pm start time and it will be televised live on NBATV. Currently the odds have Los Angeles favored by 2.5 points with the total sitting at 191 points for the contest. Find out what side the Public is taking on all the games by clicking HERE.
Free Analysis: The Los Angeles Lakers made all kinds of headlines in the offseason, and currently are the favorite in the West to make the NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers seek to bounce back from a highly disappointing season debut when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. The Lakers brought in center Dwight Howard and point guard Steve Nash in the offseason after back-to-back second-round playoff exits but the star-studded Lakers lost 99-91 while being outplayed by all the role players on the Dallas Mavericks. Los Angeles guard Kobe Bryant played in the opener despite a painful foot injury and it remains to be seen how spry he will be for an early-season back-to-back. Howard had 19 points and 10 rebounds but was a woeful 3-for-14 from the free-throw line. Nash had a poor outing in his Los Angeles debut with just seven points and four assists. He never seemed to fully get in the flow while being outplayed by Dallas counterpart Darren Collison. “Obviously, it was a disappointing night for us,” Nash said. “We have high expectations and we didn’t play well. It wasn’t good enough.” The 38-year-old Nash and Bryant are still searching for a comfort level due to the injury Bryant suffered in the preseason.
The Trail Blazers finished 10 games below .500 last season and have a new general manager in Neil Olshey in addition to a new coach in Stotts, who was an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. The Trail Blazers return three key players from a season ago in LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews. The Trail Blazers will be looking to get back into the playoffs this season, and coach Terry Stotts will be relying heavily on first round draft picks Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard. Lillard was the sixth overall pick in June’s draft and he stood out in the preseason by leading all rookies with a 16.2 average. There has been chatter about him being a top candidate for Rookie of the Year honors. “I don’t feel like I have anything else to prove to people as far as me belonging in the league,” Lillard said. “I just want to keep getting better. My only goal is to keep improving myself so I can help my team win games.” The Trail Blazers are 31-11 all-time in home openers, including 11 straight home opening wins. They will play 12 of their first 19 games on the road.
Free Pick: I will go with the Lakers in this one. LA has the advantage of having a game under their belt and that will greatly aid them here vs a Portland team that has a few new faces and will take some time to gel. Portland is 16-4 in their last 20 home games vs the Lakers, but just 1-3 in season openers vs them. Los Angeles is one of the best teams in the NBA, while Portland will be fighting for that 8th playoff spot and I cannot see the Lakers starting out 0-2. Look for Los Angeles to bounce back with a solid win tonight.
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