Wizards vs Trail Blazers Odds, Props & Predictions (Dec. 21)

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21 December 2023

Wizards vs Trail Blazers Odds, Props & Predictions (Dec. 21)

Odds from ESPN Bet on Dec. 21. New users at the sportsbook can claim anESPN Bet promo code and land $250 in bonus money to bet on Wizards vs Blazers.

The NBA public betting splits show a lot of love for Portland tonight; the Blazers are getting 67% of ATS handle and 73% of moneyline handle.

Wizards Sitting Second-Last in East

A miserable season for the Washington Wizards got a little brighter last Friday when the team broke a six-game losing streak with an impressive 137-122 home victory over the over-.500 Indiana Pacers. But the good feelings evaporated quickly; two days later, the Wizards started their current four-game road trip with a 112-108 loss at Phoenix. The next night, they dropped a 143-131 decision at Sacramento.

On the bright side, Washington did cover the spread in both games to improve their ATS record to a respectable 13-13 on the year.

Playing at the fastest pace in the league (104.42), the Wizards are averaging 117 points per game, which is tenth in the NBA. But they aren’t scoring efficiently. They sit just 23rd in Offensive Rating (112.0), and their defense has been a disaster all season, allowing an NBA-worst points per game and sitting second-last to Charlotte in Defensive Rating (121.4).

Kyle Kuzma (23.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.2 APG) and Jordan Poole (17.4 PPG, 3.5 APG) shoulder the bulk of the scoring load, but like the team as a whole, need a lot of looks, especially the latter. Poole is shooting just 41.6% from the field and 32.5% from three. His Player Efficiency Rating is just 10.8, down from 14.6 last year and 13.5% on average over his five-year career.

Blazers End Skid With Win Over Suns

The Blazers had a Western Conference-worst seven-game losing streak on the go heading into Tuesday’s home date with the Phoenix Suns. Despite a 40-point outburst from Kevin Durant, Portland emerged with an impressive 109-104 win thanks to a 14-of-28 performance from beyond the arc (compared to 5-of-23 for the Suns).

Leading scorer and distributor Anfernee Simons (25.4 PPG, 5.8 APG) had a team-high 23 points and seven assists in the win, while Jerami Grant (22.7 PPG) added 22 points and Deandre Ayton (12.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG) had 16 boards and a massive 15 rebounds.

While the Blazers certainly can’t be classified as a good, or even average, team this year, they have been considerably better than the Wizards by almost all metrics.

Portland’s -6.5 point differential is 3.3 better than Washington (-9.8) while its -6.6 Net Rating is 2.8 better than the Wizards (-9.4). The Blazers have also been hit much harder by injuries. Simons has only played eight games, while Scoot Henderson (11.1 PPG, 4.4 APG) has played 17 and Malcolm Brogdon (15.5 PPG, 5.4 PPG) has played 19. Six of Portland’s top-seven scorers have missed at least four games.

In contrast, each of Washington’s top five scorers has played at least 25 of the team’s 26 games, while none of their top-seven scorers has missed more than three.

But, at the moment, the Blazars are almost entirely healthy. Quickly-improving second-year guard Shaedon Sharpe (16.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG) is not in Thursday’s NBA lineups due to a groin injury.

WSH vs POR Player Props

Player props from the DraftKings app.

Thursday’s NBA player props list Simons with the highest point total (25.5) just one higher than Wizards leading scorer Kuzma (24.5). Ayton has the highest rebound over/under at 12.5. No other player is higher than 8.5 (Daniel Gafford).

Washington Wizards vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction

On paper, this is a game the Blazers should win handily. Washington’s only win in the last nine games came against another run-and-gun team, Indiana, which plays at the third-fastest tempo in the league. The Wizards were in their element in that track meet and were able to find a rhythm on their home court.

Portland plays a much different style and has a considerably better defense. (Their 114.5 Defensive Rating is actually in the top half of the league.) At the same time, Portland only has seven wins on the season, and only four were my five or more points. So I am going to buy the spread down to 2.5, which you can get at -140 at ESPN Bet.

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