Sports Reporter | Capper
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The Trail Blazers have finally gotten back into the win column after losing 10 straight games. They were able to down another struggling squad Charlotte Hornets in a game that soared under the total with an 89-86 victory. Now the Trail Blazers will look to win two in a row when they stay on the east coast to take on the Washington Wizards in this Friday night showdown. We take a look at this matchup to make a Trail Blazers-Wizards prediction and pick.
Portland Trail Blazers (20-56) are now just 2 games ahead of the bottom-feeding San Antonio Spurs and the rest of the season is lost at this point. As of now, the Trail Blazers are just looking toward the future and what they can achieve from the NBA draft as they come into the 2024-2025 season.
For the rest of this season however, the Trail Blazers will look to gain some momentum before the season's end, and for them to do that they need to go out there and give it their all starting with tonight's matchup.
The Trail Blazers will look to continue this newfound momentum when they head to Washington to take on the Wizards in this Friday-night showdown.
Washington Wizards (43-31) host the Portland Trail Blazers, aiming to avoid having the worst record in the Eastern Conference as they are just 1.5 games away from the lowly Detroit Pistons. While they did just lose to the Los Angeles Lakers at home, one game before that they surprised everyone by taking down the Milwaukee Bucks 117-113.
They held the Bucks to just 43.7% from the floor and 22.9% from 3-Point range. As the Wizards look to end this season on a high note, they will look to host the Portland Trail Blazers to get themselves back into the win column on Friday night.
The Portland Trail Blazers don't have much to play for the rest of the season. They are second to last place in the Western Conference with just 20 wins on the season and are just looking toward next season at this point. They also will be without the majority of their roster when they head out on the road for this Friday night matchup with the Wizards.
While the Trail Blazers have been downright atrocious on the season, they are still an NBA-level team with a 2.5-point spread to cover against another bottom-of-the-barrel team. You normally don't see an NBA team getting 2.5 points against the Washington Wizards but here we are. The way that the Wizards have been struggling all season long gives the Trail Blazers some life to cover this spread.
Without both Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson and Deandre Ayton have been the go-to men for the Trail Blazers as they combined for 46 points in their most victory against the Hornets. It will be up to Henderson and Ayton to ignite this offense in an attempt to cover the spread against this Washington Wizards squad.
The Washington Wizards are coming down to the end of a dreadful season that has them near last in the Eastern Conference. They have an abysmal 15-62 record but they have surprised us at times. Just like their recent victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. They were able to outlast the Bucks 117-113 while stifling the Bucks on defense.
However, they will be without one of their key pieces to their team and that is Kyle Kuzma who is out with an ankle. That means Jordan Poole will need to put this team on his back as they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Poole is averaging 22.5 ppg to go along with 7.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds. The Wizards do not have a ton of scoring options to choose from so Poole will have to play a vital role in igniting this offense and get a win before the regular season comes to a close.
The Portland Trail Blazers have some uphill sledding ahead of them without most of their starting cast when they take on the Washington Wizards. However, the Wizards will still be without the majority of their lineup as well. Despite being just 1-9 in their last 10 games, the Trail Blazers are still 5-5 ATS meanwhile, the Wizards are 4-6 in their last 10 with an ATS record of 5-4-1 but they have failed to cover the only two times they were the favorite.
While it isn't for the faint at heart to take the Portland Trail Blazers at any point this season, but when they are going against the Washington Wizards it's viable. Scoot Henderson and DeAndre Ayton should be enough firepower for them to get through this Wizards squad to get the outright win and cover the spread.
FINAL TRAIL BLAZERS-WIZARDS PICK & PREDICTION: Portland Trail Blazers +2.5 (-106)
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