Portland Trail Blazers vs Golden State Warriors Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 11/04/2024, 02:00  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 11/04/2024 at 03:04 in NBA Predictions

The Portland Trail Blazers will play host to the Golden State Warriors at the Moda Center in the NBA on Thursday night. The hosts are 21-58 and 14th in the Eastern Conference while the visitors are 44-35 and tenth in the Conference standings. 

Thanks to an excellent 8-2 in their last ten, the Warriors will end the season in the top ten, but there’s still plenty to play for entering the final stretch. It is still mathematically possible for the Warriors to climb to as high as the seventh seed, though an eighth through 10th place finish is most probable. The Warriors head into this match riding a wave of confidence after beating the ninth-placed Lakers 134-120 on Tuesday night when Klay Thompson led the team with 27 points and three assists while Steph Curry added 23 points with seven rebounds and eight assists. The Warriors are the seventh-ranked offense in the league and are putting up 118.0 points per game, which is 2.5 more than the Trail Blazers typically concede. Defensively, Golden State are allowing 115.5 points per game, ranking 18th overall. A win here will see them draw level with the Lakers with two games to play. 

Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers need not worry about playoff permutations as they have been ruled out from the postseason for a while now and never really looked likely to make the top ten for the majority of this season. They are now looking to avoid a third straight defeat following a 110-100 loss to the Pelicans on Tuesday night. Deandre Ayton put up 30 points and 13 rebounds, while Scoot Henderson added 19 points and 15 assists in the loss. Portland’s biggest downfall this season has been their offense, which is the third-worst in the league, averaging 106.8 points per game, while over their last three, that drops to 105.0. On defense, they have been a bit better, though, allowing 115.5 points per game, which is good for 19th place. Portland play the Rockets and Kings before the end of the season and will hope to end what has been a dismal season on a high.