Wizards vs. Blazers NBA Preview
Portland, OR (AP) – The Portland Trail Blazers let a crucial win get away the last time they took the court.
A repeat performance seems unlikely against the visiting Washington Wizards.
Looking to bounce back, the Blazers will try for a sixth consecutive home victory over a Wizards team beginning a five-game road trip Tuesday night.
According to NBA odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog.com have made the NA point spread favorites for Tuesday’s game against the NA. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that NA% of more than NA bets for this game have been placed on the NA.
Portland (40-30) sits in sixth place in the Western Conference, one-half game ahead of seventh-place New Orleans and just a few in front of a handful of teams battling for playoff berths.
The Blazers had averaged 108.3 points – 12.0 more than their season mark – on 50.8 percent shooting en route to three straight wins prior to falling 84-80 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
Despite leading throughout the majority of the second half, Portland – winner of seven of 10 – committed three turnovers, shot 1 of 8 and scored four points over the last four minutes.
“We haven’t clinched … so you have to win games,” coach Nate McMillan said. “Certainly, when you have an opportunity to win a game, you need to take it and put that game away.”
LaMarcus Aldridge, averaging a team-best 22.2 points, had 18 for the second consecutive game. Swingman Nicolas Batum recorded a season-high 25 points.
Andre Miller went 3 of 14 from the floor to finish with seven points. The veteran point guard is averaging 12.8 points, but that number has dipped to 6.2 on 25.6 percent shooting over the last five contests.
“We had control of the game, but we didn’t keep on top of it,” Miller said. “Every loss is big right now, but we move on.”
Miller also struggled in an 83-79 loss at Washington on Dec. 3, going 2 of 12 from the field to finish with 12 points while Aldridge had 16 on 6-of-17 shooting. Portland has lost 18 of its last 22 when Aldridge scores 20 or less.
The Blazers have lost five of seven on the road to the Wizards (17-51) but taken five straight in the series at home while holding them to 86.6 points on 40.8 percent shooting.
Washington, an NBA-worst 1-31 on the road, had been outscored by an average of 17.7 points during a six-game skid before defeating New Jersey 98-92 on Sunday. It was just the Wizards’ second victory in 15 games since recording their only road win, 115-100 over Cleveland on Feb. 13.
John Wall totaled his highest scoring output in more than a month with 26 points and also added eight assists and six rebounds Sunday.
“We’ve lost games with John when he’s trying to make plays, but he’s not afraid to,” coach Flip Saunders said. “If you want to be a great player in this league, you can’t be afraid to take the ball in your hands and try to make a play.”
Wall is averaging 18.7 points since the All-Star break and fellow rookie Jordan Crawford has also come up big of late, averaging 20.5 over his last six.
“Our young guys are not only playing, but they’re being counted on to be forces in the game,” Saunders said.
Nick Young, who leads Washington with an average of 17.7 points, missed his third straight game Sunday with a knee injury and his status is unknown.
Portland center Marcus Camby is questionable with an injured ankle.
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