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Nearing the end of a five-game homestand that opened with a pair of wins, the Wizards will now have to look to Tuesday to finish the stretch over .500. Two nights after a loss to Brooklyn, Washington (5-11) faltered out of the gate Sunday and couldn’t keep pace with the Trail Blazers, falling 119-109 in D.C.
The Blazers, led by Damian Lillard’s 40 points, started the night on a 32-12 run and never looked back in a wire-to-wire victory in which the biggest statistical difference came at the free throw line. Portland knocked down a whopping 30 of its 35 free throws on the night (Washington hit just 10-of-21 comparatively) and controlled the paint to move to 11-5 on the season. C.J. McCollum chipped in 25 points, while Jusuf Nurkic’s 13 points and 14 rebounds helped the Blazers to an important 52-43 advantage on the boards.
Outside of a 13-0 response to the Blazers’ hot start that eventually helped bring the Wizards within five points early in the second quarter, Sunday night was all Portland. The Blazers quickly returned their lead to double-digits in the second and led by 21 by the halftime break.
Of course, Washington’s troubles weren’t as simple as a free-throw disparity Sunday, as the Wizards again dug themselves too big a hole to climb out of against a talented Portland squad. After allowing the Blazers to take a big lead into intermission, a costly three-minute scoring draught near the end of the third quarter led to a 29-point deficit, the biggest of the night. Dwight Howard (aggravated gluteal soreness) also left the game prior to halftime and didn’t return.
It wasn’t until the final five minutes when Washington’s second unit mounted a 17-7 surge to cut the Portland lead down to just 10 with 1:56 remaining. The Blazers’ starters remained in the game to stave off a late collapse, but nearly the entire Wizards bench registered a positive +/- ratio on the night. Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 19 points led the second unit, while Tomas Satoransky added 10 (seven assists), Austin Rivers scored nine, and Jeff Green tallied seven (team-high 13 rebounds). John Wall’s 24 points led the team, while Bradley Beal (12) and Otto Porter Jr. (13) rounded out the double-figure scorers.
Going forward, the Wizards know they won’t be able to afford large deficits against a week-plus of playoff teams that are on the docket. Despite trailing for the entire game, Washington did keep its turnovers low and shot the ball admirably, particularly from 3-point range (13-for-32, 40.6%). Still, it all comes down to consistent effort from the outset, something that was noted by head coach Scott Brooks after the loss.
“Look what happened with the guys off the bench,” said Brooks. “They played with passion, they played with enthusiasm. That's what you got to do in this league. They competed in that second half, the fourth quarter. And that's how you win games in this league. You don't win games by just playing, you win games by competing.”
Washington will play once more at home Tuesday against the Clippers before a pair of off days around Thanksgiving. Tip-off against Los Angeles is set for 7:00 P.M. at Capital One Arena.