PORTLAND -- Despite holding a 21-point lead in the first half, the Portland Trail Blazers fell 125-124 in overtime to the Washington Wizards in front of a sellout crowd of 19,482 Saturday night at the Moda Center.“We shouldn’t have put ourselves in a position to lose that game,” said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. “Outstanding first half offensively, very good defensive quarter in the second quarter. Give credit to Washington, they’re an excellent team. Beal came out and got hot and made it difficult. But we’ve got to play with the lead better, particularly here at home.”The Trail Blazers are now 28-36 overall and 17-14 at home this season. The loss ends a four-game winning streak and drops the Trail Blazers to two games behind the Nuggets, a team that won earlier in the evening, for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West with 19 games remaining.
On replay, it looked as though Morris stepped of bounds while making his move to the basket, though the call was not made, nor was the play subject to review.Said official Rodney Mott postgame: “We looked at it and if it was reviewable, it would have been called out of bounds, Portland’s ball.”What made the missed call even more upsetting is that the Trail Blazers were on the wrong side of a similar non-call in a loss to the 76ers earlier in the season. While Stotts conceded they shouldn’t have put themselves in position to be the victims of a missed call, it still is on the officials to get it right.“When two referees are looking at the play and neither one of them see him step out of bounds, I think in a game like this, you can’t miss that call,” said Stotts. “He was obviously out. The replays showed both referees are looking at his foot and neither one of them called it. It’s particularly disappointing when we lose a game in Philly and a guy steps out of bounds with 40 seconds to go and they don’t see that. We’re in a playoff race and we can’t afford those mistakes.”
The Trail Blazers were led by CJ McCollum, who finished with 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting and six assists in 42 minutes. Damian Lillard scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and overtime while also handing out seven assists and grabbing three rebounds in 35 minutes.Harkless went 7-of-12 from the field for 15 points to go with five rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes. Allen Crabbe added 14 points and six assists and Al-Farouq Aminu hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime to finish with 11 points and eight assists.The Wizards were led by John Wall, who finished with a game-high 39 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 shooting from the fre throw line. Beal finished with 26 points while both Otto Porter (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Morris (13 points, 11 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles.Next up, the Trail Blazers start an eight-day, five-game road trip, their last extended trip of the regular season, with a second night of a back-to-back in Phoenix versus the Suns. Tipoff is scheduled for Sunday at 6 pm.