Fresh off the blockbuster trade that sent forward Blake Griffin to Detroit, the Los Angeles Clippers begin their new era by hosting the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night in prime time (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
The Blazers are listed as 2.5-point favorites, with the over-under for total points scored set at 219.5.
Before you lock in your bets, you need to see what SportsLine senior analyst Larry Hartstein has to say. He's on a sizzling 13-5 ATS run the past two seasons in games involving the Clippers and has the pulse of how they will react in their first contest in the post-Griffin era.
Hartstein knows that along with Griffin, Los Angeles sent Brice Johnson to the Pistons. The Clippers received Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, a first-round pick and a second-round pick. The trade comes just seven months after Griffin signed a five-year, $173 million contract with the Clippers.
Detroit and Los Angeles are both fringe playoff contenders. The Pistons are 22-26 and currently 2.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Clippers, at 25-24, are a half-game out of the final Western Conference playoff spot entering Tuesday's action.
The good news for potential backers of the Clippers is that NBA teams historically react to a coaching change or major personnel transaction with an uptick in their performance for a couple games.
Moreover, the Clippers have covered four of five in this series and are 13-2-1 against the spread this season coming off a straight-up win.
However, the surging Blazers have won five of their past six and are on a 4-0-1 ATS run in their last five. They are coming off a 107-93 victory at Dallas in which they made 10 3-pointers and star Damian Lillard had 29 points.
So what side of Blazers-Clippers should you back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of Blazers-Clippers you should be all over on Tuesday, all from an expert who's hitting 72.2 percent of his picks when the Clippers are involved.
