The Portland Blazers will take on the LA Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, January 21, for the third and final time. The Blazers have not won a single match in a head-to-head matchup this season, so they will look to finally pick up a win against the star-studded Lakers. Portland has been playing well for a while, so they may have their best chance to win the upcoming game. After defeating the Dallas Mavericks 127-110 on Wednesday, the Lakers suffered a loss against the Brooklyn Nets two nights later. The Lakers started the first half strong but struggled the rest of the way, losing 130-112 at home. Blazers’ star Jerami Grant has been averaging 37.5 points over the last two games, so the team will need him to be at his best in the next game against the Lakers as well.
Preview
The last time the Blazers won consecutive games was in late November and early December last year. Jerami Grant was their best player in those two games. In their current two-game winning streak, Grant has been really amazing. Portland will once again rely on him while Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons are out. The team will be hoping that Henderson and Simmons will be cleared to play to support Grant.
Also Read: Brooklyn Nets vs LA Clippers: Prediction (Jan 21, 2024)
When the Lakers lost their recent game to the Brooklyn Nets, their coach, Darvin Ham, expressed his frustrations and said that they should just stop making excuses and actually play basketball. Now it will be interesting to see how the team will respond to that challenge on Sunday.
Starting lineup
If Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson are out, Jerami Grant, DeAndre Ayton, Malcolm Brogdon, Matisse Thybulle and Jabari Walker should be in the starting lineup for the Blazers. If both Simons and Henderson are available to play, Thybulle and Brogdon will be benched. For the Lakers, the starting lineup is likely to be Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince.
Prediction
The Lakers are expected to win the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, as they will look to take their frustration out after the embarrassing loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Lakers are likely to beat the huge spread and come away with a big win. According to the oddsmakers, the total points will go over.
