| Advertisement |
WASHINGTON -- There's an argument that either the Washington Wizards or Portland Trail Blazers has the best starting backcourt in the NBA outside of Golden State's tandem of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. There was no debate over which team was better when Portland and Washington met on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bradley Beal scored 25 points and the Wizards had 75 in the first half as they cruised to a 120-101 win over Portland on Monday afternoon.
Advertisement
John Wall, the point guard in Washington's starting backcourt, had 24 points for the Wizards (21-19), who have 12 straight home games and five of 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 as Kelly Oubre Jr. added 18 points. Markieff Morris had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
"When we play defense and get rebounds, get out in transition, teams collapse when I'm penetrating and then just finding guys," Wall said of the explosive first half. "We moved the ball very well and guys were knocking down shots, shooting with confidence."
Whether the 2 p.m. start time for the 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. C.J McCollum, Portland's other starting guard, finished with 12 after scoring at least 25 in eight straight games.
Washington opened the game with a 10-0 run and 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. This came after the Blazers trailed 18-1 in Friday's 115-109 to the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Marcin Gortat's dunk put the Wizards up 95-65 with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter. Portland coach Terry Stotts pulled the entire starting lineup en masse immediately after Gortat's dunk and sat them for the remainder of the game.
"First quarter, turned the ball over, didn't make good defensive plays at the start," Stotts stated. "Got off to another poor start. We didn't do a lot of things good teams need to do to win games on the road. It was very disappointing."
The Blazers won at Washington on the MLK holiday last season. They never pulled closer than 17 points in the second half this time.
All four starting guards rank among the league's top 20 scorers. While Beal and Wall made 5 of 6 3-pointers and 17 of 28 shots overall, Lillard and McCollum finished 11 of 29 with only five assists.
"Anytime you come out and have that kind of start to the game and the game gets away from you the way it did (today), I don't think it ever sits well," Lillard lamented,
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. Washington started the season 2-8, but is 15-7 since Dec. 5. The 12-game home win streak is the longest since a 15-win stretch during the 1988-89 season as the Washington Bullets.
"One I want to credit our fans because they're awesome," Beal said. "We feed off their energy, that constant support. But it's just us protecting our house. We have that extra urge here, that will to want to win. We want to be a great team here and home, we want to have home court when playoff time comes around."
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.
