The Portland Trail Blazers have begun the season with two wins and have their sights set on extending that streak to three when they host the Washington Wizards at the Moda Center. The two teams split their two-game season set last year with each club winning on the road and the Blazers opened tonight’s game as a 4.5-point favorite. The last five meetings have had an average combined score of 221.2 and tonight’s total opened at 226 points.
- Washington is 0-9 SU in its last nine games on the road.
- Portland is 8-1 SU and ATS in its last nine games vs the Eastern Conference.
- Portland has gone UNDER in five of its last six games with a closing total of 226.0 or more.
Wizards vs Trail Blazers Game Center
Washington’s struggling offensively
The Wizards opened the season with two games at Capital One Arena, dropping both games with an average losing margin of 2.5. Although both games were close affairs, Washington’s poor shooting percentage was a big reason that it lost those contests. The Wizards rank 20th in the NBA for field-goal percentage, hitting just 44.1 percent of their attempts, and beyond the arc, the club has hit just 30.8 percent of its three-point tries.
Washington had an issue last year cleaning up rebounds as it ranked 21st in the league, grabbing an average of 43.1 boards per game. The organization brought in five-time NBA rebounding leader Dwight Howard to shore up that area of their game, but he has yet to step foot on the court with his new team and the Wizards have the worst rebound differential in the league at -15.
Portland aims to stay perfect this season
The Trail Blazers conclude their season-Sportsbook three-game homestand in tonight’s contest, looking to go 3-0 over that span. Portland welcomed LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to town in the season opener by winning 128-119, and followed up with a 121-108 triumph over San Antonio on Saturday. The Blazers are shooting extremely well through the first two games, hitting 48.4 percent of their shots from the floor, which is seventh-best in the NBA, while draining 40.6 percent of their three-point attempts, which ranks 11th in the league.
Unlike Washington, Portland has done a good job cleaning the glass over its first two games, outrebounding opponents by seven on average while grabbing 50 boards a game. Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic has led the team in rebounds in both games, averaging 8.5 boards. The Blazers rank fifth in the league for defensive rebounds at 39 per game, not allowing teams many second chances.
UNDER trending for tonight’s game
Washington and Portland have had an average combined score of 221.2 over their last five meetings and Sportsbook has tonight’s total Sportsbook at 226 points. Meanwhile, over that span only one game went OVER 226 points and only twice in their last 20 contests have they gone OVER 226 points. Additionally, over the last 20 games at the Moda Center, only four games have gone OVER 226 points, while six of Washington’s last 20 road games have gone OVER 226 points. Lastly, the total has gone UNDER in five of the Trail Blazers’ last six games with a closing total of 226 points or more.
My Take on Washington vs Portland
I like the Trail Blazers on the -4.5-point spread. The Wizards are 0-9 SU and 1-8 ATS in their last nine road games with an average losing margin of 11.22. Meanwhile, Portland is 15-5 SU and 14-4-2 ATS in its last 20 home games with an average winning margin of 11.93, winning by six or more points in each of the victories. Lastly, the Trail Blazers are 9-4 SU and 8-5 ATS in their last 13 home games vs the Wizards.
