Wizards vs. Trail Blazers final score: Portland’s hot start and three-point barrage too much in 132-121 loss

The Washington Wizards (4-13) to the Portland Trail Blazers (11-9) on Tuesday night, 132-121. While Bradley Beal Beal scored 37 points and Russell Westbrook had a triple double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, Damian Lillard scored 32 points and five more Portland players scored in double figures.

This game was lost in two key areas: first, a poor first quarter start and second, a barrage of three pointers all around, particularly in the third quarter.

In the first quarter of the game, the Wizards allowed the Trail Blazers to score 11 of their 40 points off of seven turnovers. Portland also outrebounded Washington, 13-7 and grabbed five offensive rebounds while Washington only had one. When Washington was only able to shoot 1-of-8 from the three point line while Portland shot 6-of-12 from deep, all of these things culminated into a big deficit that was as large as 21 points in that period alone. What’s more? Lillard was quiet at that time.

While Washington was able to get hot on offense in the second quarter, the Blazers kicked off the third quarter with another 8-of-12 barrage from three. This was when Lillard got hot, scoring 12 of his points in that period alone, including three from long range. Portland ultimately shot 21-of-46 overall from three.

Washington was able to make a late run in the fourth quarter and were behind, 122-118 with 4:05 left after Deni Avdija made a late three. But from there, Portland went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a Lillard step back three to ice the game.

There is one player who was particularly frustrating for me to see. Though Washington shot 16-of-40 from three, Davis Bertans shot 2-of-10 tonight, all from long range. He’s been struggling all season to say the least due to his offseason and the team’s recent coronavirus outbreak. Hopefully he gets back in form as time goes on.

That said, Rui Hachimura was spectacular, where he scored 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting. It was unfortunate that his efforts weren’t enough tonight.

The Wizards won’t have much time to fret about this game, and it’s unfortunate that they weren’t able to get a win streak going after defeating the Brooklyn Nets in historic fashion last Sunday. They will play the Miami Heat tomorrow night on the road at 8 p.m. ET.

See you then.