T.M. Selection: Suns/Trail Blazers UNDER.

I am on the under in the Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers game on Tuesday. The Suns haven't been putting up a lot of points in their games lately. Their offense has really suffered without Booker in the game. They haven't put up 115+ points in any of their games since he went out against the Warriors a few weeks ago. I think their offense is still going to struggle to explode without him in this game since the load will have to be carried by the aging Chris Paul. Their defense has looked good though and that is how they've been winning their games. The Suns have given up 110+ points to their opposing team just 2 times in their previous 8 games. Also, a majority of their previous 6 games and had 1 team stay under 100 points scored in the game. The Trail Blazers looked a bit better in their most recent game with Lillard back on the court for them but they are still missing McCollum and he is a major part of their offense just like Lillard. The Trail Blazers play very well when both of those guys are playing and playing well but usually with only 1 of them in the lineup, the Trail Blazers struggle to score a lot and win games. I think that the Suns are already going to dictate the pace of this game with a more defensive effort and I expect the Trail Blazers to follow suit with the defensive strategy knowing that their offense is not as strong still without McCollum. I don't think Lillard can do enough by himself to drive this score up and I like the way the Suns have been playing defense lately. I like the under in this game.

T.M. Prediction: 99-94 Suns.