After taking Game 2 in Denver, the Trail Blazers now head home to Portland tied 1-1 with the Nuggets entering Game 3. In both Games 1 and 2, the Nuggets opened as 3.5-point favorites and were bet up to -4 before tipoff.
Tonight, though, it's the Blazers who are listed at -4, but their road to that number was a bit different.
Unlike Denver, Portland actually opened as a 4.5-point favorite on Wednesday night and was bet down to the current number. However, you probably wouldn't have predicted that line fall based on the public betting percentages this game is seeing.
The Blazers have drawn 75% of spread bets so far, so a line move against them should be a sign that something's up.
That "something" would be professional action.
Per Sports Insights Bet Signals, sharps across the market hit the Nuggets three times (at lines of +4.5 and a scarcely available +5), giving oddsmakers no choice but to drop the line and give the majority of their players a better number.
It's worth noting that our Line Prediction tool does expect the liability on Portland to be enough to get this line back up to -4.5, and if that turns out to be the case, don't be surprised to see wiseguys buy the number back once again.
It's not just the point spread drawing sharps to this matchup, though. The over/under has actually followed a very similar pattern, as 71% of bets have landed on the over, but the line has fallen from 215.5 to 214.5.
Once again, Sports Insights Bet Signals confirm that sharps are responsible for the fall, as they've been triggered twice on the under so far (both times at 215.5).
