Anfernee Simons scored a season-high 41 points to fuel a furious fourth quarter rally but the Portland Trail Blazers stop just short of a comeback. Kyle Kuzma and the Washington Wizards held on for the win, 118-117, in Portland....
Anfernee Simons scored a season-high 41 points to fuel a furious fourth quarter rally but the Portland Trail Blazers stop just short of a comeback. Kyle Kuzma and the Washington Wizards held on for the win, 118-117, in Portland.
The Washington squad were spearheaded by Kuzma, alongside offseason acquisition Tyus Jones and center Daniel Gafford to secure their fifth win of the season as the Blazers fell to 7-20.
Star Players and Injury Reports
The Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma was an absolute nightmare for the Trail Blazers. Kuzma consistently found the right match-ups and spots. He finished with 18 points in the first half and a line of 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a steal.
The rest of the team followed suit, as Tyus Jones went 5-7 from deep en route to 24 points. Daniel Gafford menaced the Blazers’ offense and defense, ending the night with 16 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and four steals.
In the final frame, however, all eyes went to Anfernee Simons for the Portland side. Simons transformed a pedestrian performance into a night of personal bests, setting a career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. When it was all done and dusted, he ended the night with a season-high 41 points and 7 assists.
Deandre Ayton aided Simons with a monster 23 point, 16-rebound effort on 10-21 shooting. Jerami Grant also played a robust 20 point, 4 assist game. The three combined for 84 of the Blazers’ 117-point offense.
Portland’s sophomore guard, Shaedon Sharpe, missed his first game of the season due to a thigh strain suffered against Phoenix. Washington missed guards Johnny Davis (calf), Landry Shamet (rib) and Delon Wright (knee).
Game Recap
The Blazers went into the night with a seven-game streak of giving up double-digit leads in the first quarter. The entire homestand, the Blazers let visiting teams jump out early and force themselves to play catch-up.
The visiting Wizards entered the game keen to keep this streak going. And keep it going they did. They jumped out early to an 8-0 lead amid early fouls, sloppy passing and loose handles from Simons and Ayton.
Kuzma and forward Deni Avdija facilitated the offense by assisting on every made basket and finding their own at the free throw line. Mercurial Jordan Poole would then assist on a Kuzma three-pointer to make the score 20-7 with just under seven minutes in first quarter.
Despite early fumbles, both Simons and Ayton would form the backbone of Portland’s offense. They combined for 14 on 50% shooting in the period and keeping the game within reach. Simons struggled to find his range from deep (he missed all four attempts), while Ayton struggled to finish at the rim against the steadfast Gafford.
Simons instead found points inside the paint, using his speed and handles to find gaps in the Wizards’ defense. Ayton knocked down short and midrange jumpers to close the gap. Kuzma continued to orchestrate the Wizards’ offense, keeping a double-digit lead and finishing the quarter with 14. Gafford kept the paint on lockdown, adding three blocks in the quarter.
After tallying a single assist, Jerami Grant would find himself nine points early in the second quarter. However, these efforts were met by Washington reserves Corey Kispert and Mike Muscala. They responded with their own nine on two makes from deep and a layup plus the foul drawn on Grant.
From there, the game’s flow seemed quite set, as a back-and-forth developed with the size of Washington’s lead. The Blazers would push to make it six on a ferocious putback flush from Jabari Walker, but the Wizards would push back again into double-digits, 51-40.
Portland continued to struggle and, despite makes from Reath and Simons, Washington would continue to find just enough points to stretch their lead to 13 at the break.
Once again, the Blazers would respond, closing the gap to nine on back-to-back plays at the rim by Toumani Camara. A bad pass by Kuzma would lead to a picture perfect fastbreak lob from Grant while a missed jumpshot by Simons became a found money layup for the rough-and-tumble rookie forward.
After a timeout, Tyus Jones would keep the lead at 18 points and dangerously close to blowout territory before Walker, Reath and rookie guard Scoot Henderson began to chip away at the lead. Henderson, whose play has been up-and-down would help Simons find points with assists to Walker and Reath. However, the Blazers would still end the quarter down by a baker’s dozen, 93-80.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Blazers looked right at home as they cut the lead in half on a Simons made three. Grant would add in his own three-pointer and Ayton would find better success at the rim, drawing a foul on Poole and dunking on a lob from Simons.
The young guard would continue to find his spots for the quarter but the Wizards’ Jones responded from beyond the arc with two makes of his own. The lead stalemated at 14 and forced a third timeout from Billups. This time, it would be the charm
The third-year coach swapped Grant for Walker after the timeout and the combined five of Simons, Brogdon, Thybulle, Walker and Ayton cracked the Wizard’s erstwhile runic defense.
Simons made another three-pointer. Ayton filled the basket with a hook shot and a layup deep in the paint before picking up an assist on a transition bucket for Walker after Thybulle forced the steal. Simons finished the 13-2 run by making another three and then flushing home a dunk on a bad pass from Avdija. Suddenly, it was a game, 110-108.
From there the game seesawed. Kuzma found his way to the line for two, Wizards 112. Brogdon stuck a driving floater off a kickout and swing, Blazers 110. Simons nailed a technical free throw from Poole, 111. Avdija grabs an offensive rebound for the layup, Wizards 114.
The Final Minute
What the Blazers needed was a slip, a momentary lapse and an easy shot. The Blazers would find it on a sideout. Simons came to the ball, dragged Kuzma to the pinwheel logo and then pinned him on an Ayton screen. He then proceeded to splash in his fifth three-point shot for the tie, 114-114.
From there Kuzma would make a critical offensive rebound on his own his for a reverse layup. Grant would draw Gafford’s sixth foul and head to the free throw line. Grant would make the first, but miss the second. With the Wizards’ defensive gaffer on the bench, Ayton found the ball, kicked it out to Simons and watched with horror as his teammate’s left-handed layup spun out with 23 seconds left.
The Blazers forced a foul on Kuzma, who split a pair of attempts, but managed to draw a foul after rebounding his second. He would split another pair, placing the Blazers down three with 12 seconds to go. They wasted no time finding Simons on a dribble hand-off from Grant. Simons would not make the same mistake twice and flushed the dunk to pull within one. Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was forced to advance the ball via timeout, 118-117.
Quick hands from Thybulle forced a call from the officials as he slapped the ball from the hands of Poole. Billups elected to challenge the call, securing the ball with 5.8 seconds left to go.
The coaching staff decided to run the same play for Simons, but an adjustment from Kuzma blew up the action. They forced the ball into the hands of Grant with rookie wing Bilal Coulibaly on him. As far as match-ups went, it was now or never. Grant dragged the rookie over to the left side of the paint and drove into a leaning left-handed hook shot.
It would not find the net. It wouldn’t even find the rim. And the Blazers lost their magic to the Wizards.
Key Stats and Quotes
Once again the Blazers were outshot by their opponents. They made 43 shots on 95 attempts for 45.3% as the Wizards connected on 42-84 for a flat 50%. They would make 14 three pointers on 30 attempts (46.7%). The Wizards matched them for 12 on just as many (40%). It’s an uncharacteristically high mark for the Blazers this season.
The Wizards edged the Blazers in points in the paint, 56-50; assists, 26-24; and steals, 9-7. Both teams tied for six blocks, but the Blazers won the rebound battle, 51-37. Portland feasted on the offensive glass, pulling down 20 for the night. The Wizards provoked more turnovers from the Blazers, 12-16, but could not capitalize for points, 15-21. Still, they managed to outrun the Blazers 23-8 on the fast break
However, the Wizards left points at the line, making only 22-32 (68.8%) and leaving the door open for the Blazers. The Blazers, however, made only a shaky 17-23 (73.9%). They missed crucial points that would have changed the entire cadence of their rally.
Most crucially, there were no lead changes. The Blazers only managed to tie, but never take the advantage. There were plenty of chances to move into that position, but at the end of game, it came down to one last play.
“There were several options on the play and Jerami just caught it and went one-on-one, I got to live with that,” said Billups postgame.
“I just wish he would have went a little sooner, just in case he missed it we’ve got a chance for a tip back.”
“Jerami’s a great player. So you give him that much space and I’m taking our chances every time,” Simons added.
“Kuzma was all over on me, it was four-on-four and he had the whole left side. I think we live with that type of shot.”
“We come back and they kind of gave use the game, it was there for the taking. We just couldn’t capitalize for the win,” Simons said to finish questions.
Where To Next?
The Blazers will visit the Golden State Warriors on Saturday for their third match of the season before returning for a quick holiday homestand starting against the Kings on Boxing Day.
The Wizards visit the Warriors on Friday to play the first game of their back-to-back before returning home to celebrate the holidays and then pick up against the Orlando Magic on Boxing Day.
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