The Portland Trail Blazers get set to battle the Utah Jazz Thursday night inside the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. They jump it up at 10:00pm. This is a clash of two teams with high expectations coming into the season and are both now struggling. 

 

Bookmaker has installed Portland as a - 1 1./2 point favorite. 

 

The Trail Blazers (6-16) have gotten off to a rocky start and their main issue has been their lack of defense during this horrible four-game losing streak. They are giving up way too many points and need to buckle down and play better perimeter defense. On offense, they are paced and led by small forward Jerami Grant who is battling with some injuries. 

 

He did not travel with the team during Monday's 132-127 setback to the Los Angeles Clippers due to a concussion and his status appears to be up in the air for Thursday's game. If he can not go, Portland would be losing 22 points a game. They have dealt with some key injuries already this season and have not been able to consistently put a solid starting five on the floor at the same time. 

 

They are connecting on 55% from the floor, including 34.6% from beyond the arc. Grant is one of their best shooters from three-point land as he is averaging close to 42% from long range. 

 

The Jazz (7-16) have dropped three straight and five of seven overall. They really need to turn things around quickly or they will find themselves out of the playoff picture before January. 

 

They too have had issues on the defensive side of the floor and the lack of offensive production aside from Lauri Markkanen is alarming. Markkanen is netting a team-high 23.7 points per game while collecting eight boards a night.

 

The next closest player to putting up any decent numbers is point guard Jordan Clarkson who is adding 16.6 a clip. He needs to be more assertive and have a willingness to attack the basket. 

 

Portland is 2-3 in their last five games and they are a solid 3-2 in their last five games against the number. They have also played well on the road as an underdog, going 8-5 in those contests against the spread. The Jazz are a dismal 1-4 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the spread. Utah is also 3-8 in their road games against the number too.