The Portland Trail Blazers took care of business Thursday night as they beat the Washington Wizards 116-103 in a very convincing win that featured some excellent passing combined with blistering shooting. The Blazers improve to 45-24 on the season, while the Washington Wizards fall to 35-33 on the season.
The Blazers did what they had to do tonight. After coming through in the clutch against the Bucks on Monday, the Blazers needed to win against the Wizards to set themselves up for yet another road trip. Forget what you have heard in the past two years. The Wizards are no longer a pushover team. They are two games over. 500 and will be in the playoffs. They have also shown that they are able to beat the Blazers as they beat Portland by ten in their last meeting. That was with LaMarcus Aldridge, too.
The Blazers took an early five-point lead, but it vanished thanks to the hot shooting of John Wall. The Wizards had a five-point lead going into the second quarter. This looked to be a game that the Blazers would have work for yet again. The rest of the game was a completely different script. Multiple fans and analysts were calling for Portland to recapture and relearn some of the early season ball passing that had been so effective and so entertaining to watch. Tonight, it finally returned. Every player on the Portland squad got the itch and you saw the ball whiz around the perimeter for the open three followed by a no-look pass by Thomas Robinson in the paint to set up a dunk for Victor Claver. It was what Blazer fans have missed for quite a while now. Gone were the one-on-one plays of the first quarter and this last month and a half. Gone were the disappointing clunks and roll outs that fans have come to expect. In this game, everything just worked.
Firstly, give credit to Washington. They came out playing well and played great defense on the Blazers. The reason the Blazers got cold in the first quarter was because the Wizards were playing the passing lanes, crowding the three-point line, and rebounding the basketball with ease. Thinking back, that was because the Blazers were playing one-on-one basketball. You know, the times when Mo Williams dribbles at the top of the key for 20 seconds and then dishes it to Dorell Wright who has to hoist up a desperation three that ends in a block. That didn’t happen tonight, but—oh wait it did. Once the ball started flying around and the passes had intention, Washington could not keep up. That is one thing that the Blazers have been struggling with. Sloppy passes. Tonight, the Blazers trusted wherever the ball went and threw it with confidence. Batum even had a seemingly impossible thread-the-needle pass through three Wizard players for an easy lay-up.
The Blazers had a two-point lead going into halftime and that was after that Wizards were shooting over 50% and played all-around good basketball. The third quarter started off in the best way imaginable. The Blazers made their first four-of-five shots in the quarter, three of them being threes. A little over a minute in and the Wizards were staring at an 11-point deficit. From then on, the Blazers had control and did something that they rarely do. Portland closed the door on a team. When it looked like Washington might crawl back with a few made buckets. Portland made the necessary stops and made the appropriate high percentage buckets to close the door with ease.
You might be reading this and feeling like I am being way too happy about this game. Well, I am. Not only was it a very solid win against a decent team, but Portland showed that they can still play the way they did before. Portland also overcame a lot of problems in the past couple of games. They won a close overtime game and then soundly beat another. It seems as if Portland is coming out of this funk.
Portland went 41-for-81 from the field and shot 51%. That will do it against just about any team. The Blazers were dialed in from the start and only had a minor cold spell at the end of the first into the second quarter. The Blazers also went 14-for-35 from three and shot 40% from downtown. Another stat I want to call out is the turnovers. Portland only had nine. With all the recent struggles with turnovers, this was a relieving sight to see. Portland took care of the basketball and still passed it with extreme efficiency.
The backcourt for the Blazers got it done once again. Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews combined for 51 points on 16-for-34 shooting, 7-for-17 from downtown.
Lillard finished with 23 points on 8-for-18 shooting, 3-for-8 from three, 6 rebounds and 10 assists with just one turnover. What is scary is that John Wall, the Wizard superstar point guard, finished with 24 points on 8-for-18 shooting, 5-for-10 from three and had 14 assists. That is scary similar.
Matthews, hot off of his 26 points performance against the Bucks, finished with 28 points on 8-for-16 shooting, 4-for-9 from three and had 5 assists.
I want to call out Batum here as well. Batum has played phenomenally ever since LaMarcus Aldridge went down and he did it again tonight. He finished with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting, 2-for-5 from three, 5 assists and 14 rebounds. Batum continues being a beast on the boards.
The Blazers will get a day off before they start their last extended road trip of the season. Their first stop being Charlotte. It is easy to forget the Charlotte game played in Portland as the Blazers pummeled them from three-point land and the game was decided in the third quarter. However, the Bobcats have been playing well as of late. They have won four of their last six thanks to the help of Al Jefferson. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m. PST. Stay tuned!