Washington Wizards vs Portland Trail Blazers Preview

Wizards 22-20 vs Blazers 16-25

When: Saturday, January 15th, at 7:00p.m.

Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

TV: NBCS Washington, Root Sports Plus

Radio: The Team 980, WFED 1500 AM/ Rip City Radio 620

Injury

Wizards: Brad Beal (Out/ Health and safety protocols)

Blazers: Damian Lillard (Out/Abdominal Surgery), CJ McCollum (Out/ Lung), Cody Zeller (Out/Knee), Larry Nance Jr (Out/ Knee), Norman Powell (Out/Health and Safety Protocol)

Keep an eye on:

Anfernee Simons: is coming into his own. Simons has emerged this season as one of the top reserve guards in the league, averaging 14.1 points, 2.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the field, 39 percent shooting from deep and 94 percent from the charity stripe. In Portland's last ten games, Simons is averaging 19.9 points per game which includes a 43 point, 7 assist performance in a Portland win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Wizards guards will have to defend for a full 48 to try and slow down the explosive Simons. He's a three level scorer, fairly athletic and fearless while being an adequate playmaker as well. If he gets going early, he's fully capable of being a one man wrecking crew and one that can put another L in the loss column for Washington.

Pat Delany: takes over Wes Unseld Jr who is out due to health and safety protocol from testing positive for Covid. While nothing drastic will change, little details will, which is natural when its a new voice being heard from the sidelines. What remains are questions that has to be answered moving forward while Unseld is out. How will the players respond to Delany in a real game situation? What will Delany rotations be? Will he adjust well throughout the game? These are just some of the questions off the top of my head that will be answered very soon. Bottomline, the objective is to extend this winning streak by any means necessary. The message from day one has been everything Washington does, begins on the defensive end. If Washington executes well on that end, they will have a positive impact, which makes Delany's job easier and the buy in to him while Unseld is out easier. So, at the end of the day, it comes back to the players and how they conduct themselves. Stay tuned......