NBA Betting Info. 1/16

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Preview: Portland At Philadelphia
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, January 16, 2016
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Portland Trail Blazers seek their fourth consecutive victory when they visit the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Portland opened a three-game road trip with a 116-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday as standout point guard Damian Lillard contributed 33 points and 10 assists.
Lillard has been superb over the past four games and has knocked down 23 3-pointers while averaging 31.3 points during the stretch. He has topped 30 points in three of the four games and is fully recovered from the foot injury that recently sidelined him for seven games. Philadelphia has lost four straight games and the most-recent defeat was painful as a 24-point lead got away and turned into a 115-111 overtime loss to Chicago. Bulls guard Jimmy Butler exploded for 53 points in dropping the 76ers to 2-16 at home.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (18-24): Lillard’s December injury opened up playing time for swingman Allen Crabbe and he had another solid game with 19 points and a career-best five 3-pointers against Brooklyn. “I hit some big shots,” Crabbe said after scoring in double figures for the 12th time in 13 games. “Teammates found me, got me open, I got some in transition. I was just trying to pick it up defensively, come in and bring some energy off the bench in the second half.” The emergence of Crabbe has given Portland three solid scorers as shooting guard C.J. McCollum has reached double digits in all 40 games in which he has played this season.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (4-37): Coach Brett Brown took the overly optimistic approach when discussing the blown lead against the Bulls, claiming the large advantage displays the amount of progress the team is making. The players know better — that a golden opportunity to knock off a much-better team was missed. “We love playing the top teams and seeing where we line up,” point guard Ish Smith, who is averaging 20.6 points during the past five games, told reporters. “What we have to do is start closing out these games. … That’s the next step for us as a young team.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers have won six of the past eight meetings.
2. Portland backup C Ed Davis had 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and collected 10 rebounds against the Nets.
3. Philadelphia F Jerami Grant (calf) is in jeopardy of missing his second straight game.
PREDICTION: Trail Blazers 113, 76ers 107

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Preview: New York At Memphis
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 16, 2016
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
The New York Knicks may be looking at a future centered around rookie Kristaps Porzingis, but Carmelo Anthony is still the most important player on the team at present. The Knicks hope to have Anthony back on the court when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
New York fell to 0-3 on the season without the star forward in the lineup when Porzingis struggled to carry to load in a 110-104 loss at lowly Brooklyn on Wednesday. Anthony (ankle), who suffered the injury in a win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, is listed as day-to-day but is not expected to miss much more time for a Knicks club that is 5-2 in its last seven games. The Grizzlies are missing a key piece as well with point guard Mike Conley (left Achilles) down, but backup Mario Chalmers is stepping right in to take his place. Chalmers scored a team-high 25 points on Thursday and buried a jumper with eight-tenths of a second left to give Memphis a 103-101 victory over Detroit.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (20-21): Derrick Williams scored 31 points off the bench on Wednesday but Porzingis could only manage 12 on 5-of-17 shooting against the Nets. “He kind of creates a lot of situations for us,” Porzingis told reporters of Anthony. “He has the ball. He’s getting the defense to be tighter and we can get wide-open shots.” Porzingis averaged 23 points on 26-of-50 shooting in the previous three games and scored in double figures in each of the last seven contests.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (22-19): Chalmers was picked up in November in a trade with the Miami Heat to serve as a backup to Conley and provide some scoring punch off the bench, and the Kansas product has done just that. Conley, who is day-to-day, has missed the last five games, and Chalmers is averaging 17.6 points while logging an average of 39 minutes in that span. Chalmers got plenty of help on Thursday from forward Matt Barnes, who came off the bench and scored all 18 of his points from beyond the arc with a 6-of-6 effort.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies C Marc Gasol is averaging 19.5 points in the last two games after putting up 9.5 in the previous four.
2. Anthony is in line to earn a starting All-Star spot after the latest voting totals released Thursday had him in third place among the Eastern Conference frontcourt players behind LeBron James and Paul George.
3. Memphis has taken four straight in the series.
PREDICTION: Grizzlies 96, Knicks 94

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Preview: L.A. Lakers At Utah
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 16, 2016
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Kobe Bryant continues to deal with injuries but is expected to play on Saturday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Utah Jazz. Bryant is bothered by a strained right Achilles’ tendon and sore right shoulder but is trying to play whenever possible during his final NBA campaign.
The Lakers visit the Jazz again later this season, so this isn’t Bryant’s last visit to Utah unless something unexpected occurs. He is just 7-of-24 shooting over the last two games while playing through the ailments and had only eight points on 4-of-15 shooting during Thursday’s road loss to the Golden State Warriors. “I was really stiff but I thought it was the right thing to do,” said Bryant, “go back in the game and play and try to enjoy it one more time.” Los Angeles has lost five of its last six games, and the Jazz are also struggling as Thursday’s 103-101 home loss to the Sacramento Kings marked their fifth defeat in seven games.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (9-32): The backcourt trio of Jordan Clarkson (22), Lou Williams (21) and rookie D’Angelo Russell (14) combined for 57 points against Golden State and the production has become a welcomed trend. Williams is averaging 21.6 points over the past 10 games, and his five 20-point outings during the stretch include a career-high 44-point explosion, while Clarkson has three 20-point outings while averaging 18.2 points over the last nine. Russell had a season-best 27 points against Sacramento on Jan. 7 before leaving with an ankle injury and has averaged 13.5 points in two games since returning from the ailment.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (17-22): Utah could be shorthanded in the frontcourt as power forward Derrick Favors (back) figures to miss his 13th straight game and forward Trevor Booker is expected to sit out with a concussion. Booker received an elbow to the face from Sacramento star DeMarcus Cousins during Thursday’s loss and his probable absence opens up more playing time for suddenly-hot rookie Trey Lyles. The first-round pick scored a season-best 19 points against the Kings after scoring 16 against Portland the previous night, and was 14-of-20 shooting in the two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. SF Gordon Hayward scored 25 points as the Jazz recorded an 86-74 road victory over the Lakers last Sunday.
2. Los Angeles F Julius Randle is averaging 9.7 rebounds over the last nine games.
3. Utah was 6-of-34 from 3-point range in the loss to Sacramento as Hayward missed all eight of his attempts and backup PG Trey Burke was 0-of-6.
PREDICTION: Jazz 101, Lakers 95

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Preview: Sacramento At L.A. Clippers
When: 10:30 PM ET, Saturday, January 16, 2016
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
The Los Angeles Clippers have already proven they can win without Blake Griffin, and now they don’t need DeAndre Jordan, either. The Clippers hope to have Jordan back in the lineup when they attempt to push the winning streak to 11 straight by hosting the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
Jordan held the longest current streak of consecutive games played at 360 before being forced out of the lineup on Wednesday due to a bout with pneumonia. The Clippers, who have played the last nine without Griffin (quad), adjusted yet again with Cole Aldrich stepping up in a 104-90 victory over the Miami Heat. Los Angeles could probably use Jordan’s defensive presence against Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who had a double-double prior to halftime on Thursday and finished with 36 points and 17 rebounds in a 103-101 win at the Utah Jazz. Cousins carried the load but it was forward Rudy Gay playing the hero with a last-second jumper after Sacramento had squandered all of a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-23): Sacramento appeared to have the game in hand on Thursday before Utah scored six straight points to tie it late, and Cousins recognizes that the poor performances down the stretch need to change. “The biggest thing is it showed we’re still not there,” Cousins told reporters. “We’re still making the same mistakes, we’re still letting teams back in games, we’re still letting up in games defensively. We can’t be the team we want to be continuing to make these same mistakes.” Defense is the biggest issue for the Kings, who are last in the NBA with an average of 108.4 points allowed.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (26-13): Aldrich made his first start of the season in place of Jordan on Wednesday and scored a season-high 17 points, including 13 in the third quarter as Los Angeles took control. “I kept telling him I’d get the ball to him,” point guard Chris Paul told reporters of Aldrich. “Then to start the second half, we just started clicking, and he got rolling.” Paul Pierce, who has been getting most of the starts in place of Griffin, played a key role again with 15 points and a season-high nine rebounds in the win and has scored in double figures in four of his last eight games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clippers PG Pablo Prigioni recorded eight steals in 15 minutes off the bench on Wednesday – tying the NBA season high.
2. Cousins is averaging 32.9 points and 13.4 rebounds in seven games this month.
3. Los Angeles has taken five straight in the series, including a pair of wins in October.
PREDICTION: Clippers 119, Kings 111