The Portland Trail Blazers couldn’t blame playing the second game of a back-to-back for yet another loss at home to a losing team Tuesday night.
That’s because the Washington Wizards also played Monday night. And they were on the road. Yet, the Wizards took it to the Blazers from the start and won 126-101 at the Moda Center.
No, the Blazers could point toward their mind-numbing inconsistency that leads to them continuously dropping games at home against teams that aren’t flat-out better than them as reason for the loss.
That said, the Blazers have clearly missed center Jusuf Nurkic and forward Justise Winslow. Plus, Jerami Grant sat out the last two games. So, there is some hope that once whole, the Blazers could at least turn around the defense, which has been awful the past few weeks. That continued Tuesday.
Kyle Kuzma scored 33 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 28 for the Wizards, who shot 57% from the field, including 51.5% on three-pointers.
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 39 points and 10 rebounds, but the home team went 12 of 42 (28.6%) from three-point range.
The Blazers got 19 points in the first half from Lillard, but they made just 7 of 21 threes while committing eight turnovers. Meanwhile, the Wizards got 21 points from Kuzma and shot 60.5% from the field to take a 59-52 lead at halftime.
The Wizards, who lost at Golden State on Monday, dominated the third quarter to go up 97-74. But to the Blazers’ credit, they managed to climb all the way back to being down 107-97 with about five minutes remaining.
But when Lillard was called for a flagrant 1 foul after Bradley Beal missed a three but landed on Lillard’s foot on the way down, the Wizards went up 111-97 off of his two made free throws with 4:11 to go.
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right, passes the ball as Washington Wizards center Kristaps Porzingis, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes) APAP
WHAT IT MEANS
The Trail Blazers (28-30) blew an opportunity to enter the All-Star break at .500 and once again lost to a losing team at home. The Blazers just finished a stretch of 15 home games in 19 outings and went 7-8 at the Moda Center, with losses to Orlando (24-35), the Los Angeles Lakers (26-32), Toronto (28-31), Oklahoma City (27-29) and the Wizards (27-30). It’s a disappointing run to be sure. Especially when considering that following the break, the Blazers will play eight of their first 10 games on the road.
ANFERNEE SIMONS
Simons left the game with 1.9 seconds to play in the third quarter and did not return after spraining his right ankle. He scored 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting in 26 minutes. He is scheduled to participate in the NBA three-point contest with Lillard on Saturday at All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City.
NEXT UP
The All-Star break.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts
