----- Kyle Kuzma finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists and Tyus Jones added 24 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range as the Washington Wizards defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 118-117 Thursday night at Moda Center.
Another slow start dooms the Trail Blazers!
Kyle Kuzma finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists and Tyus Jones scored 24 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond-the-arc as the Washington Wizards topped the Portland Trail Blazers 118-117 Thursday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Washington (5-22) raced to a 31-17 lead in the first quarter building a 67-54 halftime advantage.
Portland (7-20) trailed 108-94 with 6:38 to play, but responded with a 17-4 run capped off on a jumper from Malcolm Brogdon and a technical free throw from Anfernee Simons cutting the one at 112-111 with 3:28 remaining. Simons later connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at 114 with 1:43 remaining.
With 7.1 seconds remaining, Matisse Thybulle was called for a foul but a coaches challenge by Chauncey Billups reversed the call forcing a jump ball. Portland controlled the jump and called timeout with 5.1 seconds remaining.
Jerami Grant missed his running-jumper as time expired preserving the win for the Wizards.
Simons led Portland with a game-high 41 points. He connected on 7-of-14 from three-point range. Ayton finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds while Grant added 20 points and four assists.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will travel to San Francisco to meet the Warriors on Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 PM.
Chad's Take- Coach Billups needs to find and answer for his team's slow starts. The sooner the better.