San Antonio Spurs vs. Washington Wizards Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/25/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

Where to watch: NBCSWA, BSSW-SA

DraftKings: Spurs -2

BetMGM: Spurs -1.5

Caesars: Spurs -2

Spurs: 23-26

Wizards: 27-31

The San Antonio Spurs have clearly fixed everything. One trade of Derrick White and all of a sudden they know how to win. Clearly I am kidding because if you watch the spurs long enough you know that there was nothing more that could have been done to help this team.

But the spurs have won three of their last four and come out of the All-Star break still with a lot of room left to go in order to get back to a playoff spot, but it is clear as day that the spurs have their All Star to build around for the future in Dejounte Murray.

Murray was named an All Star for the first time this season, averaging almost 20 points and 10 assists per game despite the fact that the spurs have not had a great season. But it is encouraging to see that there are some players that will continue to play hard for Gregg Popovich.

San Antonio is coming off an 8 point victory on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder before the break occurred. All five starters for San Antonio scored in double figures, led by Keldon Johnson with 22 points, and Jakob Poeltl having the game of his life with 20 points and 17 rebounds.

San Antonio has a lot of young talent, and although I would never expect Popovich to actually want to go through a rebuild, there might not be a better team to go through a rebuild with. San Antonio is not a bad team, there is no lack of talent on this group, it's just the fact that they're young, inexperienced, and probably need another season or two under their belts in order to get back to the playoffs.

But for however many years left Popovich has and coaching, that's the big question. How this second half of the season goes might go a ways in dictating that very question. But if you're looking for a team to bet money on for the future, not of this season but in two or three years, it would not shock me in the least to see San Antonio make a run with this group. You'll thank me later.

A hearty congratulations to the Washington Wizards for assuming to winning a trade last week that a lot of people think that the player they're getting might ultimately be the difference maker of the future.

The problem with that logic is that it would require Kristaps Porzingis to actually play a game in order to dictate if the Wizards won this trade. Bradley Beal cannot get help in the future if his sidekick is not playing due to this nagging knee injury that he suffered before the trade.

And no I don't think the Dallas Mavericks legitimately sabotaged everybody involved by saying that Porzingis is not fully 100% healthy, but man we're going on four games here since the Wizards acquired Porzingis from Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, and I can't help but think that Washington fans are already angry at the fact that they're not seeing him.

Imagine how Mavericks fans felt for a good portion of however long not getting Porzingis to play with Luka Doncic. But the Wizards are not out of this chest yet. Even though Beal, Washington All Star, is out for the season with a wrist injury, Washington is still in the hunt in terms of the play and tournament for the Eastern Conference.

The Wizards have alternated wins and losses in their last six games and are coming off a 14 point victory on February 17th against the Brooklyn Nets. One person in particular that will help Washington hopefully get back to a good place, was their leading scorer last game, Rui Hachimura. the second year player had 20 points in Washington’s victory, an amazing sign given he has hardly played this year due to issues beyond anyone's control.

If Porzingis can get healthy and show even the slightest ounce of talent that he had this year in what looked like a resurging season in Dallas, Washington might have a chance to actually make the playoffs. But right now as it stands, I'm not going to put it past them.

Given the fact that the spurs have gone over in their last five games as a favorite, there is this interesting part of me that thinks that Washington's defense is going to have a very rough night. San Antonio has a much bigger advantage in guard now that Dinwiddie is gone. Do the Wizards have enough depth to combat the solid play all around of Murray and his teammates? I don't think so and it would not shock me in the least if San Antonio ran away with this one. The Wizards have failed to cover their last four following a covered victory and right now there are just too many questions that need to be answered with Washington. Spurs by 12

The Spurs are 109-74 ATS against Southeast Division opponents since 1997.

The over is 53-28 the past three seasons when the Spurs play non-conference games.

The Wizards are 5-14 ATS this season in non-conference games.

PG: Dejounte Murray

SG: Devin Vassell

SF: Doug McDermott

PF: Keldon Johnson

C: Jakob Poeltl

PG: Raul Neto

SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

SF: Corey Kispert

PF: Kyle Kuzma

C: Daniel Gafford

Spurs: None

Wizards: Kristaps Porzingis (out), Thomas Bryant (day-to-day)

Points: Dejounte Murray -- 19.9

Rebounds: Jakob Poeltl -- 9.2

Assists: Dejounte Murray -- 9.3

Points: Kyle Kuzma -- 16.3

Rebounds: Kyle Kuzma -- 8.8

Assists: Kyle Kuzma -- 3.1