Portland Trail Blazers vs. Philadelphia 76ers 12/30/18: Starting Lineups, Matchup Breakdown, Odds, Daily Fantasy, Betting
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Philadelphia 76ers Preview
Tonight, interconference rivals face off as the Portland Trail Blazers (20-16) play host to the Philadelphia 76ers (23-13).
This will be the first game of the regular season series. The last time they met, around this time last season, C.J. McCollum led the Blazers with 34 points and four assists to get past the 76ers 114-110.
While the Blazers may not look much different than the team Philadelphia saw last season, these are certainly not the same 76ers.
After an overtime loss to the Celtics on Tuesday, Philadelphia bounced back on Thursday night with a 114-97 win over the Utah Jazz. The Trail Blazers could not make it two straight wins over Golden State and lost at home last night 105-115 in a game where Klay Thompson seemed to finally regain his shooting touch.
Look for an interesting matchup at center if Joel Embiid plays. He seems to be playing the best basketball of his season and will be squaring off against Jusuf Nurkc, who has played very well of late.
TV Schedule
Date: 12/30/18
Time: 9:00pm ET
Arena: Moda Center, Portland, OR
Channel: NBCSP, NBCSNW
Portland Trail Blazers Preview Starting Lineup
| Position | Starter |
|---|---|
| PG | Damian Lillard |
| SG | CJ McCollum |
| SF | Maurice Harkless |
| PF | Al-Farouq Aminu |
| C | Jusuf Nurkic |
Blazers Analysis
The Blazers home-and-home series against the Golden State Warriors should prove beneficial to the team this season. They were able to take Golden State to overtime and won in Oakland, and stayed with the Warriors at the Moda Center last night.
Portland seems to be in a much better place than they were even a month ago, but the game against the Warriors last night was winnable. Golden State just converted more of their three-point attempts, and the Blazers needed more from their second unit.
Whereas they were a lot more balanced on Thursday night, they needed a big 40-point night from Damian Lillard to even be within range of the Warriors. Per usual, Jusuf Nurkic and McCollum played well, but the contributions mostly stopped there.
If Portland faces a healthy 76ers team tonight, they’ll need more from players like Maurice Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Evan Turner.
Blazers Quick Links: Blazers Starting Lineup, Blazers Roster, Blazers Depth Chart, Blazers Injuries, Blazers News, Blazers Schedule
Philadelphia 76ers Starting Lineup
| Position | Starter |
|---|---|
| PG | Ben Simmons |
| SG | J.J. Redick |
| SF | Jimmy Butler |
| PF | Tobias Harris |
| C | Boban Marjanovic |
Contents
76ers Analysis
Philadelphia will be the fresher team tonight with three days rest against a team playing their second of a back-to-back, but Joel Embiid is questionable tonight with soreness in his knee. Embiid was a beast against the Jazz with 23 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots in the 114-97 win in Salt Lake City.
Ben Simmons also had his fifth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. He was one of five Philadelphia 76ers in double figures, with J.J. Redick continuing to play well with 24 points and Jimmy Butler adding 19.
Aside from being the more rested team, Philadelphia also has a major height advantage in their backcourt with the 6-10 Simmons likely drawing the 6-3 Lillard.
76ers Quick Links: 76ers Starting Lineup, 76ers Roster, 76ers Depth Chart, 76ers Injuries, 76ers News, 76ers Schedule
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Philadelphia 76ers Betting Odds
While the 76ers opened as -1.5 point favorites, the spread is live at -1 for Portland to win at home tonight. The over/under is set at 224 points. The moneyline opened with Philadelphia at -105 and Portland at -115, but currently, both teams are -110.
Portland is 98-53 at home and 112-49 as the favorite. Philadelphia is 45-99 on the road and 48-146 as the underdog.
Odds & Line Movement Links: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, Vegas Odds (All NBA Games Today)
Bet This Game
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DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy Picks
Considering Embiid is questionable for tonight, I’m going with Ben Simmons ($9.6k) and Damian Lillard ($8.8k) as fantasy studs tonight. Simmons’ triple-double was good enough for 52.80 fantasy points and he’s projected for 43.23 on FanDuel tonight. Lillard is no stranger to big games and stepping up in those moments. He’s projected for another good performance tonight with 45.53 fantasy points.
Redick ($5.2k) remains one of the best fantasy values in the league, and he’s slated for a 26.94 point fantasy performance on FanDuel for tonight. McCollum could also fit into that category, and at his value of a salary, $6.3k, he’s projected for 30.54 points tonight.
Find all of our Fanduel and Draftkings projections here: https://www.lineups.com/nba/nba-fantasy-basketball-projections.
