Trail Blazers vs Suns Picks and Odds
- The Portland Trail Blazers are 5.5-point underdogs versus the Phoenix Suns on Thursday (May 13th, 10 pm ET)
- Portland can clinch at least the 6th seed in the West with a victory
- See below for analysis, odds and a betting prediction
Only a handful of days remain on the NBA regular season calendar, which means it’s crunch time for the few teams still fighting to secure a playoff spot. One of those teams is the Portland Trail Blazers, who enter play on Thursday (May 13th) riding the longest active winning streak in the league. Portland will look to extend its undefeated run to six, when it takes on the Suns in Phoenix at 10 pm ET.
Trail Blazers vs Suns Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline at FanDuel | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Trail Blazers | +5.5 (-110) | +194 | OFF |
| Phoenix Suns | -5.5 (-110) | -235 | OFF |
Odds as of May 13th.
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Despite their excellent run recently, the Trail Blazers still opened up as a 5.5-point road underdog. Phoenix meanwhile, has dropped back-to-back games, and blew a 16-point lead versus Golden State in its last outing.
Suns Slip Up Again
Phoenix fell 122-116 to the Warriors, despite holding the NBA’s leading scorer Steph Curry to only 21 points. The loss comes three days after they were defeated by an LA Lakers team without LeBron James, and is especially painful since they surrendered 29 second chance points to the worst offensive rebounding team in the league.
Final | @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/PgVlmUzQyq
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) May 12, 2021
Devin Booker led the way with 34, while Chris Paul added 24 and 10 assists. Booker has now scored at least 30 points in seven of his past 10 contests, and appears to be peaking just in time for the postseason.
THAT MAN ON FIRE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oirJOO8Vgo
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) May 12, 2021
Speaking of the playoffs, the Suns currently sit in second place in the West, a game and a half back of Utah, and two games up on the LA Clippers. After hosing Portland, they’ll close out the season with two games against San Antonio, and still have a shot of finishing as the top seed.
Trail Blazers Are On Fire
As for the Trail Blazers, they needed a win on Wednesday over Utah to stay ahead of Dallas for the 5th seed, by virtue of a tie-breaker, and to remain one game ahead of the Lakers to avoid the Play-In Tournament. Both Portland and the defending champs have two games remaining, and given that the Trail Blazers own the tiebreaker, a win over Phoenix on Thursday would guarantee they finish no worse than 6th place.
.@HoustonRockets we believe in you.#RipCity pic.twitter.com/xg50t6dmpf
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 13, 2021
Damian Lillard led the way with 30 points against the Jazz, while CJ McCollum splashed 26, and Carmelo Anthony poured in 18 off the bench. Lillard has scored 30 or more in each game during the current winning streak, and ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring.
Just beautiful, Dame. pic.twitter.com/wyt3nXQ8GX
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 13, 2021
The Trail Blazers have been scorching hot offensively over their winning streak, averaging over 123 points per outing. They rank fifth in scoring, and sixth from beyond the arc this season, and seeing how the Suns are the NBA’s ninth highest scoring team, we should expect plenty offensive fireworks on Thursday.
Ride Portland’s Form
Both of their previous matchups eclipsed 240 points, and even though Phoenix took both of those games, there’s a few reasons to like the Trail Blazers in this spot. First and foremost the form. Portland is playing its best basketball of the season, while the Suns are struggling.
Second, after seeing what Golden State did to Phoenix, the Trail Blazers must be salivating. Portland ranks third in offensive rebounding, and are just two games removed from racking up 18 offensive boards versus San Antonio.
Last but not least, the Trail Blazers have played fairly well in the second half of back-to-backs this season. They’re 9-7 both straight up and against the spread, and have actually covered in seven of their past 10 overall. Avoiding the Play-In Tournament is a huge motivating factor, and given how well they’re playing getting 5.5 points is a steal, while an outright win is also in play.
Pick: Portland Trail Blazers +5.5 (-110)
As SBD's resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he'd rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
