Portland Trail Blazers vs Brooklyn Nets: How to Watch, Odds and Game Preview (March 23)

The Portland Trail Blazers return home on Monday night to host the Brooklyn Nets at Moda Center. Portland enters this matchup at 35-37 after falling to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, while Brooklyn comes in at 17-54 and just 2-8 over its last 10 games. Even on the second night of a back-to-back, this sets up as a clear opportunity for the Blazers to bounce back with a win.

The Trail Blazers missed a chance to get back to .500 with Sunday’s loss in Denver, but this is a spot where they should be able to respond. Portland enters the night as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, just a half-game behind the No. 8 seed Clippers, so there is still real incentive to keep stacking wins down the stretch. Brooklyn has struggled all season and has not shown much recent momentum either, making this one of the more favorable matchups left on Portland’s schedule.

The biggest factor working against the Blazers is the back-to-back element, especially after a road game the day before. Even so, the Nets are not a team Portland should have much trouble with if it plays to its standard. Jerami Grant is expected to be out for the Blazers, while Noah Clowney is expected to be out for Brooklyn, but neither absence feels especially significant in the context of this matchup. Overall, this is the kind of game Portland needs to take care of as the season winds down and the race for play-in positioning continues.

Following this contest, the Trail Blazers will remain at home to host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. That matchup will present a tougher test as Portland continues its push for postseason positioning with the regular season winding down.