Philadelphia 76ers at Portland Trail Blazers

Thursday features a matchup of East versus West as the Philadelphia 76ers (18-7, 1st in the East) take on the Portland Trail Blazers (13-10, 5th in the West). Portland will host this one at the Moda Center, with tipoff scheduled for 10:00 pm ET.
The 76ers are hoping to avenge a home loss to the Trail Blazers from last Thursday when they lost 121-105. Since then, Philadelphia has won two in a row, including a 119-111 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. In the win, Joel Embiid had 25 points and 17 rebounds, while Tobias Harris added 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite injuries to some key players, the Trail Blazers have played well as of late. They have won three of their last four, including a 106-97 win over Orlando on Tuesday. In the win over the Magic, Damian Lillard had 36 points while Carmelo Anthony added 23.
Despite playing on the road, the 76ers are the favorites in this one. They are -235 to win while the Trail Blazers’ moneyline sits at +194. The spread features Portland +5.5 while the over/under for total points is 229.5.
By The Numbers
Offensively, these two have been pretty similar. Portland ranks 6th in the NBA in scoring, averaging 114.5 points per game. Philadelphia comes in just a couple of spots behind at 8th averaging 114.3 points.
Defensively, Philadelphia has a significant advantage. They rank 8th in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 110.2 points per game. Portland falls to 25th, allowing 115.3 points per game, although they have allowed just 104 over their last three.
Philadelphia Looks To Repay The Favor
It was shocking to see the Trail Blazers beat Philadelphia last week, but it was even more shocking knowing they were without Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum when they did it. Philadelphia allowed six players to score in double-digits and could not contain Gary Trent Jr. or Carmelo Anthony. On Thursday, they will look to avenge their loss as they go on the road to take on Portland.
Leading the way for the 76ers is big man Joel Embiid. He has been stellar this season, averaging 29.1 points on 54.7% shooting. He is averaging a double-double as he is pulling down 11 rebounds per game as well. Throw in 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and it has been a solid start to the season.
Another player who has been fantastic this season is forward Tobias Harris. He is their second-leading scorer averaging 20.3 points while also averaging 7.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
Portland Looks To Overcome Injuries
Portland is an extremely talented team, but it has been amazing to watch them surge in the West while overcoming injuries to big stars. Both CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic will be out for this one. McCollum is the biggest loss as he was averaging 26.7 points per game this year prior to his injury.
Unlike last week’s matchup, though, Portland should have Damian Lillard ready to go. Lillard has been remarkable in 22 games averaging 29.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game.
Other contributors include Gary Trent Jr. (14 points), Carmelo Anthony (12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and Enes Kanter (11.2 points, 10.9 rebounds).
Taking Portland And The Points
I know that last week’s domination of Philadelphia was an anomaly, but it is hard to ignore how well Portland has played as of late. While Portland has been just average at home (6-5), so too has Philadelphia been on the road (7-5).
Philadelphia is the better team and very well could win this one, but I feel like the spread makes me lean towards Portland. While I don’t expect another 16-point Portland win, I do like them to cover the 5.5-point spread.