NBA: Charlotte Hornets VS Portland Trail Blazers Pick and Predictions 12/26/2022

Game: 10:10 PM ET,  Monday, December 26th, 2022

Venue: Moda Center at the Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon

TV:  NBA TV

Hornets: 9-24, 14th place Eastern Conference

Blazers: 17-16, 9th pace Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Blazers -5.5, O/U 237.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Blazers -5.5, O/U 237.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Blazers -5.5, O/U 237.5

Hornets: SF Gordon Hayward, PF PJ Washington, C Mason Plumlee, PG LaMelo Ball, SG Terry Rozier

Blazers: PF Jerami Grant, SF Josh Hart, C Jusuf Nurkic, PG Damian Lilliard, SG Anfernee Simons 

An NBA inter-conference matchup between one of the worst of the Eastern Conference and one of the average in the Western Conference.  The Charlotte Hornets are suffering big time from an off season arrest of PF/SF Miles Bridges.  Miles hasn’t played this season and may never again if he is convicted of the felony domestic abuse charges he faces.  Miles was the Hornets leading scorer last year… and their biggest trade chip coming into this season.  PG LaMelo Ball who won ROY last season… spent the first several months of this season on the shelf with a knee injury.  LaMelo is back but he faces an uphill battle since he does not personally play defense.  The Hornets are the bottom of the barrel just one win above the woeful Pistons.  Hornets management can’t possibly want them to win any games as they are firmly in the NBA Draft Lottery ping-pong ball hunt.  The ultimate prize is 7’4 french Center Victor Wembanyama who will undoubtedly transform any team that lands him… which is why Hornets fans are lighting up the message boards with “TRADE LAMELO”... If the Hornets press reset… Why not reset all the way? The Portland Trail Blazers shockingly came out of the gate fast in the Western Conference… at one point they reached #1 in the standings… that was a long time ago… Thanksgiving really.  Since they have tumbled.  However the reason they came out fast was that they do have talent.  They have lots of talent… They have PG Damian Lilliard, SG Anfernee Simons, SF Jerami Grant… one is famous and awesome… The other two are not famous but very very talented.  It helps that Center Jusuf Nurkic has been able to play and play well after being derailed several seasons with injury.  The Great Betting Opportunity in this game will be about figuring if the recent addition of LaMelo Ball adds anything to the Hornets win/loss ability?

The Charlotte Hornets have only won 2 of their last 10 games… but those 2 wins came as a 2 of 3 game recent streak that coincides with LaMelo Ball’s return to the floor.  They may end up a high scoring team if LaMelo has his “push the offense” way… they may also end up getting some wins.  The problem with that is that they may not want it at this point of the season.  They won their last game against the Los Angeles Lakers 134-130 (ultimately helping the New Orleans Pelicans who own the Lakers pick no matter where it falls).  In that game PG LaMelo Ball had 23 points, SG Terry Rozier had 23 points, and PF PJ Washington had 24 points… and while this is a terrible team with almost ZERO defense… they were able to hang a loss on LeBron James and his much worse back-up dancers. LeBron had 34, 8, and 2… but couldn’t get the win.

The Portland Trail Blazers are on a 3-game losing streak.  Two of those losses came back to back against the atrocious Oklahoma City Thunder.  Ultimately they have won 5 of their last 10 games.  In their last loss to the Denver Nuggets 120-107, PG Damian Lilliard had 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.  Damian is stuck on the Blazers because he is very loyal and he wants to finish his career as the greatest Blazer of all time… someone needs to whisper in his ear “you are already there!... wouldn’t you like some rings?”.  Grant got 20 pts, Simons and Hart got 14 points each… but man oh man… Nuggets Center Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists… and it was his worst game in a while… The man only played 35 minutes.  When an MVP walks onto the court… we tend to know it… because those are the stat lines that are produced … when he is taking a “light” minutes night.

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CHA: 9-24, 15-16-2 ATS, 18-14-1 O/U, 5-13 in road games.

POR: 17-16, 20-13 ATS, 15-17-1 O/U, 7-6 in home games.

The Hornets are 22nd in scoring with 111.3 points per game, 5th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, 10th in AST/TO with 1.8 per game, and 13th in blocks with 4.9 per game.

The Blazers are 18th in scoring with 112 points per game, 18th in rebounds with 42.9 per game, 26th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6, and 26th in blocks with 3.9 per game.

Our prediction for Monday, December 26th is…. Blazers 131 - Hornets 122

Bet on the Blazers to cover that spread.  The Hornets do not and can’t play defense. Yes, they have beaten the Lakers and the Kings over the last few games… but who on the Hornets is going to play defense on Damian Lilliard?... Bet on the Blazers.

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Portland is 14-4 ATS versus Charlotte at Portland since 1996.

Charlotte is 12 OVER and 3 UNDER as a road underdog the last 3 seasons.

Charlotte is 1-5 ATS after covering 3 of their last 4 spreads this season.

Hornets: SF Gordon Hayward.  Good shooter… really good.  No defense, very little.  Gordon is a guy that has gotten by with an immense variety of offensive talents.  He has been an all star… he has been a team’s leading scorer… He has been a big free agent signing… And he has had many many unfortunate injuries that has left him the 3rd or 4th best player on one of the worst teams in the league.  Look for the bright spot of his jump shot. And prepare for his very soon retirement party.

Blazers: PF Jerami Grant.  Jerami is a very unheralded talent… He has played for multiple teams over many seasons… He still feels like a young player because of the VAST unhearald-ness… but he is actually a veteran player that can get a double double anytime he takes the floor.  He is the Blazers secret weapon.

Hornets: Steve “never heard of me?” Clifford

Blazers: Chauncey “Always clutch, always fly” Billups