A pair of Western Conference teams collide Tuesday when the Phoenix Suns travel to meet the Portland Trail Blazers (10 p.m. ET). Portland is looking to snap a three-game losing streak that followed a three-game winning streak, while Phoenix has lost four of five and is seeking its first road victory of 2018.
The home-standing Blazers are 10-point favorites and the over-under for total points scored is 217.5.
Before you lock in your bets, you need to see what SportsLine senior analyst Larry Hartstein has to say. In the past two seasons, he is 20-9 picking Suns games against the spread and 19-11 picking Blazers games ATS.
That adds up to a combined 39-20 between the two teams. It's no fluke either, as Hartstein also is off to a 7-1 ATS start this week in his NBA selections.
Part of his success: Hartstein has a vast network of Vegas sources and has been covering the industry as a sportswriter and analyst for two decades.
Hartstein knows the Blazers saw their offensive output thwarted in a 120-103 loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday for their third straight loss. They had scored 110 or more points in seven straight games, but were beset by 18 turnovers and a 10-point second quarter.
Even so, Portland has covered four straight games following a double-figure defeat and is on a 6-2 ATS spurt against losing teams.
The youth-laden Suns have been hampered by illness and injuries, forcing them to use five different starting lineups in their past five games.
They cited lack of energy as a factor in losing home games to the Rockets and Pacers by 50 combined points. Rookie Josh Jackson scored a career-high 21 points against Indiana despite being slowed by a hip injury.
Still, Hartstein also knows the Suns are 7-3 ATS in their past 10 trips to Portland and the road team is on a 4-1 ATS run in this series.
Will they have enough to push Portland to the wire Tuesday, or will the Blazers coast to a much-needed victory? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of Suns-Blazers you should be all over on Tuesday, all from a surging expert who's hitting 66 percent ATS on Portland and Phoenix.
