The Washington Wizards hope to turn their fortunes on Saturday when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the nation’s capital. Both sides have been playing most of their games close so it may come down to making a big shot. It’ll also be a rare close-up to a matchup of arguably most dynamic backcourt duos as Wizards’ Wall-Beal tandem will face Lillard-McCollum Blazers’ partnership.
Trail Blazers at Wizards
Spread: Washington Wizards -3.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 204.5 points
Portland blown out by young Sixers
The frustration of not getting enough hoops in starting to get visible for the Portland Trail Blazers. After scoring just 81 points in defeat to Philadelphia Sixers, two-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard fumed over officiating. So far, the Blazers are in denial, and have nobody to blame except themselves, but are finding ways to reflect the criticism. The truth is, their offense is terrible.
Lillard scored 30 points, but he was one of just three Blazers to reach double figures as the hit-and-miss Blazers offense did plenty of missing against Philadelphia. The Blazers shot a season-low 33.7 percent and scored their fewest points this season. They opened the game by missing their first 13 shots. Even so, they were able to hang around for the better part of three quarters until the Sixers finally pulled away. McCollum never could shake off the cold start as he finished with a season-low five points on 1-of-14 shooting. Nurkic was missing everything early but ended up with a solid percentage by his own poor standard. Turner, Davis, and Harkless combined to shoot 3-of-16. Lillard missed about dozen floaters and needed 27 shots to score 30. On top of everything, the Blazers have missed 10 of the 24 free throws they took in Phila. Lack of calls? Yeah, right. The Blazers play it slowly (22nd), can’t shoot (43.3%, 27th) and are coughing up the ball with regularity (15.8 TOs, 22nd). Oh, and only six players attempted more free throws than Lillard (and 10 teams more than the Blazers) on average. The reason that the Blazers were able to win this many games lies in their much-improved defense, but also in home-heavy early part of the schedule, filled with some (offensively) poor teams.
The Blazers play a matinee game in Brooklyn on Black Friday, so they should get a few extra hours to rest on this back-to-back set. They are playing with the full roster and no reported minor injuries.
The Nets game ended prior to my deadline, so here’s a quick info – The Blazers started off slowly, trying to force the issue on the Nets, and they couldn’t. The Nets went up front, and the Blazers only closed the gap by taking better shots. In the second half, they finally embraced the pace and it resulted in a 41 point third quarter. The decider was left until the final minute like the Blazers usually do, and they won 127-125. Portland started McConnaughton too, so they seem more committed to scoring now. Nurkic joined Lillard and McCollum, and those three combined for 89 points. Nobody got hurt.
Place: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Date/Time: Saturday, November 25th, 2017. 7:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBCSWA, NBCSNW
The Wizards let another one slip by, lose to Charlotte in overtime
It would have been a real sweet victory. After a few tough losses, the Wizards won in Milwaukee and proceeded to play with confidence in Charlotte. They weren’t dominating, but held a healthy lead through most of the game, before the Hornets pulled a late run to force the game to overtime. The Wizards would come out empty-handed, losing 124-129 after the extra period.
The Wizards played well offensively. They shot an excellent 48.5 percent from the field and have hit 11 three-pointers. They took good care of the ball, got better than the usual contribution from their bench, and hit their free throws. John Wall was aggressive, scoring 31 points and distributing 11 assists. Beal shot poorly, needing 22 attempts for 22 points, but six other Wizards scored between 8 and 14 points, on good efficiency. It wasn’t enough. Well, it was enough up until two-and-a-half minutes to go, when the Wizards led 111-104. They got stagnant on the offense, slowly coming across the timeline in an attempt to milk the clock. The Hornets hit their shots and stole the win. It wouldn’t have been that close without rather one-sided officiating. The Wizards were whistled for fouls frequently and the Hornets enjoyed a 40-22 free throws disparity – a large factor in a close game.
The Wizards coaching staff played their starters big minutes knowing that they’ll have three games of rest. It’s also a good indicator of Wall’s well-being, showing that the injury isn’t lingering or troubling him much. He didn’t practice on Friday, probably to rest. All the rest of the Wizards are healthy too, as they enter a stretch 7 of eight games played on the road after this one.
Portland Trail Blazers at Washington Wizards Game Trends & Prediction
The Trail Blazers don’t fare well in Washington, they are just 2-8 ATS in their last ten trips there. With 6-9-3 record overall before Brooklyn game, they are a particularly attractive team to bet on. The more obvious choice is the under, as the Blazers have been 4-14 against the total points, with nine games in a row ending in under.
Washington wouldn’t cover in three of the last four games but would if not for the extra time in the last one. They also have a bad tendency of playing below their standards at home, so this is not a perfect setting for their backers. The Wizards are 9-9 ATS this season, and 3-6 at home. Money was to be made on the under side, where the Wizards were 6-12 to start the season. Most of that came on the road though, while they fared 4-5 on the O/U at home.
Admi-Rank: The down arrow next to the Portland Trail Blazers number shows the most recent showing in Philly, but is also a sign of things to come for this team, who had been winning more than they deserved. The Wizards have been steady despite the recent crisis, partially invoked by Wall’s injury. Some of their recent losses could have easily turned the other way, and are not worrisome at this point.
The Wizards and the Blazers game figures to be a close race, despite the Wizards supposed superiority. We’ve already learned that they are simply unable to pull away from any opposition at home, whether it’s a cold shooting spell, poor bench defense or something else. The game should also be played at a much slower tempo than they got used to, which usually benefits the underdog.
I will take the Blazers and the under in this one.
My Pick: Blazers +3.5 (-110)
Total: Under 204.5 points (-110)
