Washington Wizards vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction, 12/21/2023 Preview and Pick

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Washington Wizards vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction, 12/21/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Washington Wizards vs Portland Trail Blazers

Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023

Location: Moda Center in Portland, OR

TV: ROOT Sports

Odds/Point Spread: Washington (+4)

The Washington Wizards (4-22) are hitting the road to Moda Center on Thursday where they will compete against the Portland Trail Blazers (7-19). Portland opens this matchup as 4-point favorites. The total is 238.5.

The Wizards stepped onto the hardwood against the Kings and took a loss by a score of 143-131 in their last game. When talking about fouls, the Wizards walked away with 21 and the Kings finished the game with 24 fouls. They also buried 17 of their 43 attempts from beyond the arc. Sacramento finished the contest at 76.9% from the free throw line by knocking down 20 of 26 shots. Moreover, Sacramento totaled 42 rebounds (9 offensive, 33 defensive) and had 6 blocks. Sacramento distributed 35 assists and had 8 steals for the matchup. Concerning defense, Washington allowed the other team to shoot 53.0% from the floor on 53 out of 100 shooting. They also doled out 26 assists for this game while forcing the opposition into 7 turnovers and having 3 steals. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 39 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Wizards converted 25 of their 30 attempts for a percentage of 83.3%. Washington wrapped up the game having earned a 51.8% FG percentage (44 out of 85) and converted 18 of their 38 shots from 3-point land.

Jordan Poole is one player who came through for the matchup. Poole finished the game shooting 55.6% from the floor and earned 2 assists. He played 29 mins but did not grab any boards. He ended up walking away with 28 points on 10 out of 18 shooting.

Washington steps onto the court with a mark of 4-22 so far this year. They currently have an average of 117.0 pts per contest (10th in the NBA) while connecting on 48.4% from the field. The Wizards are hitting 35.8% on 3-pointers (322 of 900) and 78.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, Washington is snagging 39.3 boards per contest and has accumulated 720 assists for the campaign, which ranks 9th in basketball in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 14.0 times per contest and as a team they commit 20.0 personal fouls per contest.

On defense, the Wizards are forcing their opponents into 14.6 turnovers per game while drawing 19.1 fouls. They are 30th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 787 surrendered for the campaign. The Wizards are giving up a shooting percentage of 50.2% (1,236 of 2,461) and they relinquish 49.1 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They surrender 36.9% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 29th in the NBA in points per game allowed (126.8).

In their last game, the Trail Blazers took home the win by a final score of 109-104 when they played the Suns. The Trail Blazers pulled down 32 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 42 in this matchup. They gave up possession 15 times, while recording 8 steals for the game. The Suns earned 15 fouls in this matchup which got the Trail Blazers to the charity stripe for a total of 19 tries. They were able to bury 17 of them for a rate of 89.5%. In reference to 3-pointers, Portland knocked down 14 of 28 tries (50.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Trail Blazers finished the game shooting 39 out of 87 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 44.8%. The Trail Blazers permitted the Suns to make 42 of their 94 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.7% for this contest. They shot 21.7% from 3-point land by shooting 5 out of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 15 out of 21 from the charity stripe (71.4%). With respect to cleaning up the glass, Portland allowed Phoenix to grab 47 overall (14 offensive).

Anfernee Simons was important for the Trail Blazers for this contest. Simons earned 23 points in his 38 minutes on the court and had 7 assists in this game. He buried 9 out of 23 in this game for a rate of 39.1%, and added 3 rebounds.

Portland has a mark of 7-19 on the year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Trail Blazers are shooting 43.7% from the field, which is 29th in basketball. Portland has accounted for 2,800 pts this year (107.7 per game) and they grab 41.1 boards per contest. They are assisting teammates 22.2 times per contest (30th in the league) and they turn it over 15.4 times per contest. The Trail Blazers are committing 20.5 fouls per game and they go 80.7% from the free throw line.

The Trail Blazers on the defensive end are ranked 17th in the NBA in points given up per game with 114.2. They are able to force 16.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 48.7% from the field (23rd in the NBA). The Portland defense allows 32.9% on three-point shots (278 of 846) and opponents are knocking down 81.0% of their foul shots. They surrender 26.3 dimes and 45.2 rebounds every game, which ranks them 16th and 24th in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Portland (-4)

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