Tonight, the Wizards continue their West Coast trip in Portland against the Trail Blazers! The Wizards have lost their last 2 games and are missing their star, Kristaps Porzingis, tonight since he will not play back-to-back’s because of his knee injury that kept him out the entire month of February. However, the Blazers are the last thing from healthy! Most of their star players are out for tonight’s game which makes the Wizards heavy favorites. Considering the play-in tournament situation that Washington is in, can they take care of business against the Blazers tonight and hope for Charlotte and Atlanta losses? Well, here is what I think!
My prediction: Wizards win by 10
The Wizards will win this game by shooting the ball better. Below is some of the players that Portland is missing and their 3pt%:
Damian Lillard: 32.4% Anfernee Simons: 40.5% Joe Ingles 34.7%
Those are some good 3pt shooters. The Wizards on the other hand are shooting 41% from 3 since the trade deadline. This includes Kentavious Caldwell Pope’s 48.4% 3pt shooting in this stretch and Rui Hachimura’s 62.5% from 3 in this stretch. Corey Kispert is also getting better from 3 after his 45.5% 3pt shooting night in LA! The Wizards dominate 3 point shooting will lead them to success against Portland and their 37% opponent 3pt% defense (last in the NBA)!
Superman Sleeper: Daniel Gafford is my Superman Sleeper for tonight’s game. With Porzingis out, Gafford is the clear cut starting big man. Also, with Jusuf Nurkic out, he has Drew Eubanks and his average defensive rating guarding him. Gafford will play well in the paint and is my Superman Sleeper because of it!
1-1,000,000 chance
The Blazers will not score in the first 2:34 of the game!
Starters
Wizards Blazers
Neto Williams
Kispert Hart
Caldwell-Pope Hughes
Kuzma Elleby
Gafford Eubanks
Injuries
Wizards: Beal (IR), Porzingis (Out-Rest)
Blazers: Bledsoe (Out), Lillard (Out), Simons (Out), Ingles (Out), Little (Out), Nurkic (Out), Louzada (Out), Winslow (Out)
Chase Coburn
chasecpc@gmail.com
chase@chasessportsnews.com
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