Washington Wizards AT Portland Trailblazers
Mar 22, 2011 at 10 PM EST
Opening Line: Port -14.5
Current Line: Port -14
Total: Undefined at Time of Issue
Moneyline: Undefined at Time of Issue
Teams just don’t get any worse than the Wizards are on the road. In 32 tries on the road this year, they have managed just ONE win, and playing tonight against the red hot Blazers will not provide much respite from their struggles.
Portland, despite losing Greg Oden and Marcus Camby for the season, and having to ration Brandon Roy’s minutes closely due to his knee injuries, has won 7 of their last 10 and they currently sit at the 6th seed in the Western Conference. If the playoffs began today, the Blazers would face the 3rd seeded Mavericks, who are struggling mightily since losing Caron Butler. Dallas has won just 5 of their last 10 games and if things don’t turn around, the lower seeded Blazers could definitely push Dallas to the limit and possibly beat them.
Some betting trends:
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Washington’s last 11 games and they are 2-13 SU in their last 15 games. Washington is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games and the total has gone OVER in 4 of their past 5 on the road. Washington is 0-5 SU in their past 5 on the road and they are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 on the road. Washington is 3-7 SU in their last 10 against the Portland Trailblazers and the total has gone UNDER in all 5 of their last 6 games against the Blazers. The total has also gone UNDER in 5 of the last 5 road games in Portland and the Wizards are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games on the road against Portland. Washington is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 on the road in Portland.
Portland is 7-3 SU in their last 10 games and the total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 6 at home. Portland is 4-1 SU in their last 5 home games and they are 7-3 SU in their last 10 against the Washington Wizards. Portland is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games when playing Washington and the total has gone UNDER in 5 of Portland’s last 5 games against the Wizards. The total has gone UNDER in 5 of the last 5 against Washington and Portland is 5-0 SU in their last 5 games against the Wizards.
Key Matchups:
John Wall vs. Andre Miller
If talent were based exclusively on athleticism, Wall would have Miller outclassed by miles, but Miller finds a way to work with the limited assets that he has athletically and has continually proven himself to be one of the better point guards in the league. If Portland were to go young, he might be expendable, but Portland doesn’t look to be blowing up ship any time soon, especially given their recent success. Prior to the season, Wall was the odds on favorite to win the rookie of the year, but if you read my piece you would know I favored Griffin. Wall has NOT disappointed, it’s just that he’s not as polished as Griffin and still makes a lot of rookie mistakes (the same might be said of Griffin to some degree, however). Wall will attempt to use his atleticism to penetrate and create for himself and others, but even as slow footed as Miller is, he is not easy to penetrate on.
Washington doesn’t really have any other talent than Wall to make another “key matchup” in this game. When two of the five starters are either a rookie (Jordan Crawford) or a D-leaguer (Trevor Booker), it’s expected that the team will struggle, but the real pity is that they have another dud at power forward in Yi Jianlian who just never did pan out. Javale McGee is a solid young talent and is very exciting. He’ll be a part of the long term plans, along with Andray Blatche, who is injured.
This game really doesn’t have any reason to be close. Portland is good at home, and Washington is horrid on the road, the combination is likely to lead to a blowout.
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