Thursday, March 20th, 2014 7:00 PM on CSNB, CSNW

Moda Center at the Rose Quarter, Portland, Oregon

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The last thing Washington needed as they prepare for their first postseason since 2008 is a four game West Coast road trip. Luckily the Eastern Conference is so down this year that even a late season swoon won't hurt the Wizards' seeding. Portland is in a similar situation where poor play recently likely won't derail their Western Conference 5th or 6th seed.

The Wizards started off their road trip with a 111-117 overtime loss in Sacramento as 1.5 favorites. Washington has gone 6-4 straight up in their last 10 but have only rewarded backers against the spread in 4 of those matchups. After Thursday nights game in Portland, Washington plays back to back against the Lakers on Friday before visiting Denver.

Portland hasn't done much to instill playoff confidence lately. The Blazers have lost 6 of 10 and needed overtime to beat the lowly Bucks on Tuesday night. Defense has all of a sudden become a concern for Portland as they've allowed 102+ points in each of their last 7 games.

When the two teams met up in Washington in February the Wizards were able to pull out a 10 point victory 100-90. The Wizards were actually home dogs in that matchup and were able to win outright with 5 players scoring in double figures. Damian Lillard's 25 points and LaMarcus Aldridge's 20 weren't enough to push the total over 208 to ensure under bettors visited the ticket window.

ATS Trends

Washington is 22-12-0 ATS on the road this season

Washington is 21-13-0 against the over/under on the road this season

Portland is 16-18-0 ATS at home this season

Portland is 18-15-1 against the over/under at home this season

Injuries to Watch

Washington

02/24/14 F Nene Knee out indefinitely

Portland

03/19/14 C LaMarcus Aldridge Back questionable Thursday vs. Washington
02/11/14 F Joel Freeland Knee out 4-8 weeks

Josh's Pick: Take Portland

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