Washington at Portland
Time: 10 PM ET
TV: NBA TV
Spread: WAS -3
Total 195
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The Washington Wizards are replete with depth, and rolling along in the Eastern Conference. Washington trails only Toronto (but by 6.5) for the best record in the East, and will travel to face the Portland Trail Blazers, who are without star forward LaMarcus Aldridge.
NBA oddsmakers favor the Wizards by 6-points in the affair with the total set at 195 in NBA live odds.
The Blazers for their part are a very tough team in a much more competitive conference out west. Portland has posted a 31-13 record and has gone 19-5 at home this year, but the Blazers have lost two straight and won just five of its last 10 games. The most recent loss was an embarrassing 90-89 defeat against Boston at home. Damian Lillard had 21 points and seven assists, but it wasn’t enough to beat a very poor Celtics team. The Wizards will look to pounce on this.
At full strength, Portland is the league’s 4t best rebounding team and 5th best defensively. But losing Aldridge is a huge blow. The Blazers turned to starting former Kansas Jayhawk standout Thomas Robinson, who responded with a big game. Robinson had six offensive boards in the loss and 12 total rebounds while hitting 4 of 7 from the floor for nine points. Nicolas Batum had a rough night and missed all six of his field goal attempts. The Blazers starters shot just 25 of 62 from the floor (40 percent).
C.J. McCollum, however, is looking more like the threat the Blazers need off the bench, the kind of spark the team used to get from Mo Williams.
McCollum came in and got up 10 shots in 16 minutes to score 10 points in the game, and that should be his function in the second unit. The Blazers have struggled with bench scoring and McCollum is the only one in the unit with natural scoring ability.
Wesley Matthews and Damian Lillard set the table, fine. Lillard plays huge minutes, as well.
But without consistent contributions from Steve Blake and McCollum, this team will bottom out in the postseason when there is not really any time for lapses in the offensive output. Portland can get to the second round based on Lillard and Aldridge alone, but to beat the rest of the West, it will require a team that contributes more, even beyond Matthews and Batum.
Chris Kaman, Robin Lopez (out with hand injury) and Meyers Leonard/Joel Freeland are a great 4-man rotation at the 5-spot which helps Portland keep pace with the bigger teams in the league, while also being an excellent rebounding club in its own right.
Washington, conversely, is stacked 12-deep on its roster. The 29-14 Wizards could have three representatives in the All-Star game. John Wall is a definite, as a starter. Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat could be coaches’ selections, while even Paul Pierce and Nene Hilario have outside shots at getting in.
The Wizards top-five players all average double figures, and Gortat’s influence extends far beyond numbers. He gives Washington one of the best big man defenders of the pick and roll, and he lines up alongside another who is equally as mobile in the rugged Nene. Beal is shooting 44.6 percent from behind the arc, and Pierce is steady and always a threat late in games. This is a contending team in Washington, and it has already put the Bulls on notice.
Extending its influence into the Western Conference is possible, and to show the Blazers that it is unbeatable on the road would be another step forward for this team. The Wiz may look to make a trade at the deadline to move some younger talent (Otto Porter, Glen Rice Jr., or even Kevin Seraphin) to get a veteran at a spot like the wing. Pierce and Rasual Butler are both great options, but another defensive stopper would fit the bill nicely.
Porter could be that man, but he only sees 18 minutes a game at this point and his value likely exceeds his role within the team. That typically indicates he is available in a trade. Maurice Harkless from Orlando would make a lot of sense, as he has equal defensive skills and possibly even more upside than Porter.
