Trail Blazers at Wizards
Just when it looked like the Portland Trail Blazers were turning the corner, they went out and threw up one of the worst performances of the season. The Trail Blazers will try to bounce back from the blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers when they visit the Washington Wizards on Monday.
Portland knocked off Oklahoma City and Utah before beginning its road trip with a 116-104 victory at Brooklyn and appeared ready to march back into the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Instead, the team allowed the NBA-worst 76ers to shoot 55.3 percent from the field in a 114-89 shellacking on Saturday. The Wizards had their own winning streak come to an end on Saturday as John Wall’s tying attempt was off the mark in a 119-117 loss to Boston. Washington had won the previous four games to get back to the .500 mark and is averaging 112 points in the last five contests.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (18-25): Portland was on the second night of a back-to-back after starting the trip at Brooklyn but did not use fatigue as an excuse for the performance in Philadelphia. “Terrible,” point guard Damian Lillard told reporters. “We didn’t come out and show them the respect that we should have shown them. They competed harder than us, they played better defensively, they played better offensively. It was probably one of our worst games of the season.” Lillard managed 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting on Saturday after putting up 33 points the previous night.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (19-20): Washington’s latest scoring binge has been fueled by Wall, who recorded 36 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals in Saturday’s loss and nearly sent the game to overtime with his mad dash from end-to-end before his layup attempt rolled off the rim. “I was going as fast as heck and just looked up at the clock and tried to get it off the glass,” Wall told reporters. “I should have dunked the ball but I didn’t have the energy left to do that.” Wall will get some backcourt help on Monday from Bradley Beal (stress reaction), who sat out the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Trail Blazers G C.J. McCollum is shooting 33.3 percent from the field in the last five games.
2. Wizards C Marcin Gortat (knee) returned from a three-game absence on Saturday and contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes.
3. The home team took each of the two meetings last season, with Washington grabbing a 105-97 win behind 21 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds from Wall on March 16.