Beal leads Wizards in rout of Trail Blazers
WASHINGTON -- Bradley Beal scored 25 points and the Washington Wizards had 75 in the first half as they cruised to a 120-101 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday afternoon.
John Wall had 24 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. added 18 for the Wizards (21-19), who have 12 straight home games and five their last six overall.
Washington made 9 of 13 3-pointers in the first half for a 75-50 lead. The margin ballooned to 30 in the second half. Markieff Morris had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Whether the 2 p.m. start time for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was a bit early for the Pacific Division team or not, the Blazers (18-25) were snoozing from the opening tip with only brief moments of spunk. Damian Lillard finished with 22 points.
Washington opened the game with a 10-0 run and then pulled away for good with 17 consecutive points in the first half for a 44-21 lead against a Portland team opening a four-game East Coast road trip. Marcin Gortat's layup put the Wizards up 97-67 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Evan Turner scored 14 for the Blazers, who have lost two straight since upending the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers by 16 points at home on Wednesday. Portland shot 34.8 percent from the field in the first half and 42 percent overall.
Portland entered 27th in scoring defense and opponent 3-point shooting percentage. The first meeting against Washington since sweeping last season's series showed why, as the Wizards shot 48 percent from the floor and 13 of 23 from beyond the arc.
Otto Porter scored 12 points and matched Beal with three 3s before the crowd of 17,395. Tomas Satoransky had 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Washington started the season 2-8, but is 15-7 since Dec. 5. The 12-game home win streak is their longest since a 15-win stretch during the 1988-89 season as the Washington Bullets.
The Blazers won at Washington on the MLK holiday last season. They never pulled closer than 17 points in the second half this time. C.J. McCollum finished with 12 points.
NOTES: All four starting Gs -- Portland's Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal -- ranked among the league's top 20 scorers. ... Trail Blazers F Maurice Harkless returned to the starting lineup after sitting out Friday's home loss to the Orlando Magic with a left calf injury, but didn't score in 19 minutes. ... Wall's first quarter steal extended his streak of games with one or more steals to 27, the longest active stretch in the NBA. ... Portland visits the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. Washington closes its three-game homestand Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies. In their first road game of the season, the Wizards lost 112-103 in overtime to the Grizzlies.