Nets forward Kevin Durant said he is looking forward to building chemistry with the returning Kyrie Irving on the road. Brooklyn has to get work in with Irving away from home because he can’t play at home because of New York City’s vaccination mandate.
Portland, which is playing without CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, was still able to find a way to beat Sacramento by 15 Sunday night.
Nets at Trail Blazers Betting Analysis
On the Brooklyn side
Nets coach Steve Nash said in interviews Brooklyn is still working Irving back in the lineup but expects him to play more against Portland after the Nets were forced to play in overtime to beat the Spurs Sunday. Brooklyn had mixed results defensively.
The Nets are 18th in the league in scoring defense, allowing 108.4 points per game. Brooklyn, however, is first in the league, limiting its opponents to 31.9 percent shooting from the 3-point line, which is best in the NBA.
Kevin Durant leads the Nets in scoring, averaging 29.9 points per game, while James Harden is second with 22.3. Brooklyn has plenty of depth throughout its lineup, however.
Veterans Lamar Aldridge and Patty Mills have been effective since joining Brooklyn’s lineup. Aldridge has been scoring 13.3 points and grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game. Mills averages 13.3 points per game and shoots 42 percent from the 3-point line.
On the Portland side
Portland may be missing its top three scorers against the Nets. Already missing Lillard and McCollum, small forward Norman Powell, who averages 18.6 points per game, was forced to enter health and safety protocols.
The Trail Blazers will have to lean on center Jusuf Nurkic, who averages 13.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game and shooting guard Anfernee Simons, who has scored in double figures in five of his last six games, to pick up the slack on offense.
The Trail Blazers’ defense has had plenty of issues throughout the season. Portland allows opponents to shoot 47.7 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from the perimeter, both of which rank 30th in the league.
Nets at Trail Blazers Prediction
Top sportsbooks have the Nets an 11-point favorite over the Trail Blazers. The over/under for the game has been set at 229.5 points. Brooklyn is 15-23 against the spread this season, while the Trail Blazers are 14-24-1.
The Nets have seen their games go under the total in 20 of their 38 games, while the over is 18-20-1 in Portland’s games.
Brooklyn’s big question for this game will be how did the overtime win over the Spurs take out of them. Even with that, it is unlikely the Trail Blazers will be able to muster up enough scoring to keep up with the Nets’ superstars. Portland’s depleted lineup won’t keep up, and the Nets will cover a big number on the road.
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