NBA Betting Preview: Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Game 2 Odds

In a series that has recently been one-sided dating back to the regular season, the Los Angeles Clippers will try to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers for a fifth straight time in Game 2 at L.A.'s Staples Center on Wednesday.

The Clippers won Game 1 in a 115-95 rout to easily cover the spread as 8.5-point home favorites on Sunday and are listed as identical 8.5-point chalk for Game 2 at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Los Angeles is 3-1 against the spread in the past four meetings with Portland, as the three covers were all decided by double digits.

In Game 1 of this first-round playoff series, the Clippers were strong both offensively and defensively, led by point guard Chris Paul (28 points and 11 assists), power forward Blake Griffin (19 points and 12 rebounds) and center DeAndre Jordan (18 points and 12 rebounds). All three also made at least half their shots from the floor, with the team shooting 53.8 percent overall.

Meanwhile, the Blazers were held to 39.8 percent shooting, with their backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum combining for just 30 points and going 10-for-28. Lillard struggled in his individual matchup against Paul during the regular season as well, averaging 18 points (7.1 below his scoring average) on 32.4 percent shooting.

However, Portland’s main weakness remains inside, with the starting frontcourt of Mason Plumlee, Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu totaling 23 points and 20 rebounds between them.

Since losing power forward LaMarcus Aldridge to the San Antonio Spurs as a free agent in the offseason, the team has been lacking an interior threat.

These are two great offensive teams, but defense seems to be the difference-maker in their recent meetings. The loser has not reached the century mark in the past five games between them, with the under cashing in four times on the NBA betting lines.

In fact, only one of the last eight has seen both teams score more than 100, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database. The under is 6-2 in those games after the over cashed in the previous four, with both of them scoring more than 100 each time.