Blazers Look To Snap Losing Streak, Visit Spurs

Nicolas Batum and the Blazers have stumbled of late. Can they pick things up against the Spurs?

The Portland Trail Blazers will look to snap a three-game losing skid on Wednesday, traveling to the Alamo City to face the league-leading San Antonio Spurs.

Tip-off at AT&T Center is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET.

Portland (42-22, 18-14 road) has struggled to find its rhythm over the past seven weeks and finds itself slowly but surely slipping down the Western Conference rankings.

Since January 20, the Blazers have gone 11-13 and look like a very different side to the one that began the season 31-9. This skid has included four losses in the last five games, culminating with a 109-99 defeat at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Road woes have made up a big part of the Blazers’ struggles. Terry Stotts’ side has lost 10 of its last 13 away from the newly renamed Moda Center, including the first three games of this current five-game jaunt. Unless the Blazers are able to find a way to win on the road, they won’t be going far come playoff time, especially with the top four seeds – and home court advantage – slipping away.

But while it would appear the honeymoon period is over for the 2014 Trail Blazers, the team will know that a road win over the Spurs could be all that’s need to rejuvenate a season that still has plenty of potential. And the Blazers will remember that they’ve had success against the Spurs this season.

Portland won the first two fixtures between these sides this season, picking up a win at home on November 2 and a road win on January 17. However, it was the Spurs that emerged with the ‘W’ when the sides last met, a 111-109 affair in the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately for the Blazers, the Spurs – playing without Emanuel Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, and Tim Duncan that night – will be fully-loaded in terms of roster on Wednesday night.

San Antonio (47-16, 23-8 home) enters the game with the NBA’s best record and the league’s second best winning streak. Only the Los Angeles Clippers’ eight wins on the bounce can top the Spurs’ seven-game winning streak.

With 15 wins in the last 18 games, San Antonio has found its form at the right time, and will be looking to carry the No. 1 seed through to the middle of April. A loss on Wednesday would move Gregg Popovich’s side into a tie with the Oklahoma City Thunder, currently one-game back in the loss column.

Like Portland, San Antonio will take to the hardwood Wednesday for the second game of a back-to-back. The Spurs earned a 104-96 victory over the Chicago Bulls Tuesday, thanks in part to a 64-point contribution from the bench. Tony Parker scored 20 and handed out nine assists while Ginobili tallied 21 off the bench.

Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs odds for 03/12/2014

Portland opens as an underdog against the red-hot Spurs, and will look to upset the sportsbooks heading into this one.

The Blazers have beaten the Spurs in four of the last five meetings between the sides, including the last two – and three of the last five – played at AT&T Center.

However, the Spurs are 17-6 in their last 23 games against the Blazers in the Alamo City.

The spread opened at 6 and had already climbed to 7.5.

Portland (34-30-0 ATS) has fared better against the spread than San Antonio (31-32-0 ATS) this season and could hold an advantage for bettors on Wednesday. The Blazers are 19-13-0 ATS on the road this season, compared to the Spurs’ record of 12-19-0 ATS at home. Portland is also 13-7-0 ATS when playing as the underdog, compared to San Antonio at 28-29-0 ATS as the favorite.

Portland is 2-1-0 ATS against the Spurs this season and 4-1-0 ATS in the last five head-to-head matchups.

The total opened at 213.5 but has slipped to 212 at time of writing.

Both Portland (38-25-0) and San Antonio (36-27-1) have favored the over this season, while two of the three meetings between the two this season have seen the total go over.

The total has gone over in six of the last eight head-to-head meetings.

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