The Washington Wizards started the first game of the four games on the West Coast, with a 118-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers earlier tonight local time. This win is the fourth consecutive win for the Wizards and their tenth win of the season.
The game did not start well for Washington. The Wizards came down with as many as 14 points with a poor defense to start the game. In total, the Wizards allowed 43 points in the first quarter. The defense would increase. Surprisingly despite the poor start, Wizard kept Damian Lillard to just 6 first half points. Wizards finally took the lead before the half and walked into the locker room with a 6-point lead at 61-55. It happened with the strength to beat the Blazers 30-12 in the 2nd frame.
The 12 points the Blazers scored in second place were the least the Wizards have allowed in a quarter since 31-3-19 in the 2018-19 season.
– Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) 21 February 2021
In the 2nd half, Lillard would wake up and score 23 in his 35 points, only in the 3rd quarter. The Blazers had an early lead in the 4th, but they simply could not hold on as the Wizards acted with better defensive play and some great shots by Davis Bertans and Rui Hachimura to put the game out of reach.
Takeaways
A roller coaster defense attempt
The Wizards started with a porous defense in this game, conceding 43 points in the first quarter, while the Blazers were able to bring in 8 three-pointers. In the 2nd quarter, however, the Wizards sharpened at the defensive point and allowed just one three-pointer. Unfortunately for the Wizards, Lillard got hot and scored their third quarter. Wizards were lucky to get back on track in the fourth time to close out the game, but going forward the Wizards will need to be more consistent on defense.
Surprising difference in three points
If I were to tell you that one team scored 19 tries, with 35 percent shooting, in this game and the other team scored 6 tries, 23 percent, I would think a lot of people assume that the team that hit the most tries , won it. That actually did not happen for this match. Despite the big difference in tries, the Wizards were still able to outsmart the Blazers. Davis Bertans in particular stood out when he started the game from three points 0-6 before hitting two big tries from the fourth quarter.
Other notes
- Bradley Beal finished with a game-high 37 points (16-of-27 FG) in his first game after being named starter in the NBA All-Star Game.
- Russell Westbrook has his eighth triple-double of the season with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Westbrook did pass 7 times, but shot the ball very well (11-of-17 FG). His game in general was a very encouraging sign because he made a real effort to look for teammates and limit his outside shooting (only one three-pointer).