The Washington Wizards (29-36) play the Portland Trail Blazers (25-40) in the second night of a back-to-back and the third of a four-game Western Conference road trip. They tip off Saturday night at 10 p.m. ET at Moda Center. Below, we look at the Wizards vs. Trail Blazers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
The Wizards lost the first two games of their road trip, falling 115-109 Wednesday to the Los Angeles Clippers and 122-109 to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night. They are 2-5 since returning from the All-Star break. They are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, only a half-game out of the 10 seed, which gets to participate in play-in games to determine the final two spots in the playoffs.
The Blazers have lost six straight games since coming back from the All-Star break, allowing 120 or more points to their opponents and scoring fewer than 100 points in five of those six games. They are 16-18 at home, but have dropped to 12th place in the conference, albeit only a game out of the final play-in spot.
- Money line: Wizards -290 (bet $290 to win $100) | Trail Blazers +225 (bet $100 to win $225)
- Against the spread (ATS): Wizards -6.5 (-115) | Trail Blazers +6.5 (-107)
- Over/Under (O/U): 218.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
Wizards at Trail Blazers key injuries
Wizards
- None
Trail Blazers
- G Eric Bledsoe (Achilles’) out
- G Damian Lillard (core) out
- C Jusuf Nurkic (foot) out
- G Anfernee Simons (knee) out
- F Justise Winslow (Achilles’) out
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Wizards at Trail Blazers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Wizards 115, Trail Blazers 101
Money line
PASS on the money line because of the price unless you parlay it into another bet, in which case, your lock is to take the Wizards. No need to bet almost three times what you can win on a single bet.
The Blazers just are playing too poorly to bet to win. They have lost six straight games, all by 14 points or more and five of the six by at least 30 points.
The Wizards aren’t playing much better but have at least been competitive in every game.