Portland at Los Angeles

Los Angeles is 4-6 — a team that has won just 40 percent of its games and hasn't shown the dominant offensive or defensive profile that justifies spotting nearly nine points to anyone. That's the first problem with this number. The second is Portland. The Fire have dropped three of their last four, including a flat 78-72 home loss to Phoenix on Friday, but this same team put up 100 on Indiana, 99 on Toronto, and 81 in New York this year. One hot quarter and that cushion is gone. LA winning tonight is plausible. LA winning by nine or more against a team capable of scoring in bunches is a different ask entirely. Back the Fire and take the points.