Washington Wizards vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 05/04/2024, 01:59  by Joseph King | Modified on 05/04/2024 at 11:00 in NBA Prediction

The NBA’s 14th-placed teams face off on Friday when the Washington Wizards host the Portland Trail Blazers. The only thing left for the Wizards to play for this season is to not finish with the worst record in the league. Their 15-62 record gives them a two-game lead over the Detroit Pistons for that ignominious title with five games left on the schedule. Washington was able to snap out of their three-game losing streak with a shock 117-113 home win over the Bucks on Tuesday. They were unable to keep the momentum going the following evening, however, as they fell to a 125-120 loss to the LA Lakers. Despite being on the second leg of a back-to-back, the Wizards did well to battle back from trailing 15 points heading into the fourth to at least make the game interesting late on. Ultimately, it was Washington’s fourth loss in their last five games and moved their home record to 7-32 on the season.

The Trail Blazers are in a similar position to the Wizards and are using these last few games to get some court time for their young team. Deandre Ayton, who is considered the vet of the team at 25 years of age, was the oldest player in their most recent starting lineup vs the Hornets. The other four starters: Henderson, Rupert, Walker and Murray, have a combined average age of just 20.8. This young starting five was able to secure an 89-86 victory vs Charlotte on Wednesday to snap the Trail Blazers previous 10-game losing streak. It certainly wasn’t pretty as both teams combined to shoot just 40.4% from the field and make a combined 12 three-pointers on 57 attempts (21%). The result moved Portland’s record up to 20-56 and has them sitting two games above the 15th-placed Spurs.