Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, 12/31/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Lakers

Date: Friday, December 31, 2021

Location: Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA

TV: NBA TV

The Los Angeles Lakers (17-19) will go up against the Portland Trail Blazers (13-21) at Crypto.com Arena on Friday.

The Trail Blazers took the court against the Jazz and took a loss by a final of 120-105 in their last game. Portland ended the game having earned a 42.0% field goal percentage (37 of 88) and made 14 out of their 40 three-point shots. From the free throw line, the Trail Blazers converted 17 of 24 shots for a rate of 70.8%. Concerning grabbing boards, they earned 45 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 23 assists for the contest in addition to creating 3 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Regarding defense, Portland allowed their opponent to shoot 52.9% from the floor on 46 of 87 shooting. Utah distributed 46 assists and had 22 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, Utah grabbed 33 rebounds (13 offensive, 20 defensive) and earned 3 rejections. Utah walked away from this one shooting 62.5% when shooting free throws by converting 20 of 32 tries. They also buried 8 out of their 29 attempts from distance. Regarding personal fouls, the Trail Blazers finished with 28 while the Jazz had 11 personal fouls.

Damian Lillard is a guy who was a major factor for the matchup. He notched 32 points on 10 out of 23 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 37 mins and also snagged 6 rebounds. Lillard finished the contest at 43.5% from the floor and also distributed 4 assists.

Get all of our NBA Picks

Portland comes into this one with a record of 13-21 so far this season. They lose possession via turnover 14.0 times per game and as a team they commit 19.7 fouls every game. As a team, Portland is pulling down 43.5 rebounds per game and has earned 770 assists for the season, which has them ranked 23rd in the league in terms of passing. The Trail Blazers are shooting 35.1% on 3-pointers (451 of 1,284) and 78.5% from the free throw line. They average 108.3 points per outing (13th in the NBA) while hitting 45.0% from the field.

Defensively, the Trail Blazers are forcing 13.6 turnovers every game and they draw 19.8 fouls. They are 24th in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 876 surrendered on the year. The Trail Blazers defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 47.6% (1,404 of 2,951) and they surrender 43.1 rebounds per game as a team. They give up 37.3% on shots from downtown while they are 26th in the league in points per game allowed (111.9).

When they last stepped on the court, the Lakers went home defeated by a final of 104-99 when they played the Grizzlies. In the matter of team rebounding, Los Angeles allowed Memphis to snag 30 in all (13 on the offensive side). They shot 33.3% from distance by hitting 10 out of 30 and ended up going 24 of 29 from the free throw line (82.8%). The Lakers allowed the Grizzlies to knock down 35 of 85 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 41.2% in this matchup. When the final whistle was blown, the Lakers went 39 out of 86 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.3%. In regard to three-point attempts, Los Angeles converted 15 out of 41 tries (36.6%). They were able to make 6 of the free throw tries for a rate of 75.0%. The Grizzlies committed 12 fouls for the contest which took the Lakers to the charity stripe for a total of 8 shots. They also coughed up the ball 18 times, while earning 5 steals in this game. The Lakers were able to corral 32 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 39 for this contest.

LeBron James was important for the Lakers for the game. James racked up 37 points in his 38 minutes on the hardwood and had 7 assists for the matchup. He made 13 out of 25 for this game for a field goal percentage of 52.0%, and added 13 rebounds.

Los Angeles has a mark of 17-19 so far this year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Lakers are hitting on 46.2% from the floor, which ranks 8th in the league. Los Angeles has accumulated 3,970 points for the campaign (110.3 per contest) and they pull down 45.9 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 24.3 times per game (11th in basketball) and they are losing possession via turnover 15.9 times per game. The Lakers are committing 20.4 personal fouls per contest and they hit 72.7% from the charity stripe.

The Los Angeles defense gives up 34.2% on three-point shots (461 of 1,346) and their opponents are converting on 75.1% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have conceded 25.4 assists and 47.0 rebounds on a nightly basis, ranking them 25th and 26th in the NBA. The Lakers on defense are ranked 27th in the NBA in points given up per game with 112.4. They are forcing 15.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.7% from the field (13th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Los Angeles

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here