Washington Wizards Hold On To Defeat Portland Trail Blazers 118-117
What was going so well in the first half for the Wizards, quickly turned sour. Despite the nail biter ending and a stunning 41 point performance by Anfernee Simons, the Wizards hold on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-117. The Wizards end up getting a win on the road.
Center Daniel Gafford went into foul trouble with four near the end of the third quarter. With Gafford and guard Tyus Jones on the bench, the Trail Blazers started to close the lead gap. Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr made the adjustment to get his starters back in the game as it was clear the Trail Blazers were not going to go down easily.
Daniel Gafford would ultimately foul out of the game with 31 seconds left.
Guard Tyus Jones hits two big three pointers and kept the scoreboard trending up for his Wizards team. Jones had a season high point 24 points in 35 minutes. Jones has not obtained at least one steal in 10 straight games.
Then what seemed to be going well for the Wizards, was foiled by the Trail Blazers second chance points and offensive rebounds. The Trail Blazers started to catch back up to the Wizards and the 18 point lead dwindled away.
The last 3:48 minutes of the game was like watching a tennis match. This was a true sitting on the edge of your seat with the number of situations that seemed like the odds were suddenly against the Wizards. From a Jordan Poole flop penalty to Kyle Kuzma missing a couple of free throws despite having a hot hand night ending in 32 points, the Wizards were able to get a defensive stop courtesy of rookie Bilal Coulibaly to get the win by one point.
On another positive note, all five Wizards starters in double figures.
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