Trail Blazers vs. Nets Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for November 17 (Surprising Defensive Battle)

Trail Blazers vs. Nets Game Info

• Date: Thursday, November 17, 2022
• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• Venue: Moda Center -- Portland, Oregon
• Coverage: ROOT Sports NW+ and YES

The Portland Trail Blazers (10-4) are winners in four of their past five and welcome the struggling Brooklyn Nets (6-9) to the Moda Center. Damian Lillard and his squad returned from a lengthy road trip for a strong 7-point win over the San Antonio Spurs. Portland had played six straight games away from home, going 4-2 in that span.

Meanwhile, the Nets are struggling to tread water. Brooklyn kicked off a four-game West Coast trip with a win over the LA Clippers before losing by 13 to a bad Los Angeles Lakers squad and getting hammered by 32 points to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

Trail Blazers vs. Nets Odds & Spread

• All NBA betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: POR: (-136) | BKN: (+116)
• Spread: POR: -2.5 (-112) | BKN: +2.5 (-108)
• Total: 222.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Portland enters this clash as a slim 2.5-point favorite on the spread (with -112 odds to cover). They are also considered -136 favorites on the moneyline and the 222.5-point over/under is the middle of three games on the NBA's Thursday slate.

Trail Blazers vs. Nets Betting Trends

• The Trail Blazers went 30-50-2 ATS last season.
• Against the spread, as underdogs of 2.5 points or more, the Nets went 8-10 last year.
• A total of 36 Trail Blazers games last season went over the point total.
• Last season, 41 of the Nets' 82 games went over the point total.

Trail Blazers vs. Nets Prediction & Pick

Although both sides of this clash tout some offensive firepower with the likes of Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant, it's Portland's defensive superiority that will be the deciding factor. Portland ranks seventh in the NBA in terms of defensive rating.

The Nets, on the other hand, rank just 21st in defensive rating while allowing the eighth-most second chance points in basketball. That's thanks to a league-worst defensive rebounding percentage.

Considering a combination of the league's worst defensive rebounding team and a Trail Blazers squad that ranks top-10 in effective field goal percentage, I don't see this game playing particularly close. It will take a monster effort from KD for Brooklyn to stay in this game.

Prediction: Trail Blazers 113 | Nets 105

Trail Blazers vs. Nets Best Bet

This game is a surprising defensive effort from both sides. Both squads rank bottom-half in the league in terms of points per game offensively, and bottom-10 in overall pace.

Portland is able to win a comfortable game with the over/under still hitting the under.

Bet: Under 222.5 points (-110)

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.