Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
In a night where Portland did not even have two of their best players on the court in Damien Lillard and C.J McCullom, they certainly played like it with a combination of 31 points and 11 assists from Anfernee Simons, plus 23 points and 14 rebounds from Jusuf Nurkic in another close but not close enough finish for the Wizards.
The loss by Washington (22-21) tonight snapped its three-game winning streak snapped despite Spencer Dinwiddie’s 27 points. Kyle Kuzma added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The Wizards played without leading scorer Bradley Beal for the third straight game, as well as coach Wes Unseld Jr., who are both in health and safety protocols. Assistant Pat Delany replaced Unseld.
The Trail Blazers led by 16 with 6:55 to play, but Washington cut the lead to 112-108 on Dinwiddie’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left.
Washington had to play without Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr. as he was placed in Health and Safety Protocols. Assistant Coach Pat Delany took the helm tonight and put together a nice run of plays in the last three minutes that led up to the 3-pointer by Dinwiddie.
After the game, Delany was asked about his Coaching debut. He said, “I am looking forward to Unseld returning as soon as Monday. “I’ll be the first one to hug him and welcome him back.
For the Wizards, tonight was the fifth straight time they have lost at home to Portland.
Portland continues to struggle with their mixed line-up headed up by first year coach Chauncey Billups and former Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks. They are 17-25 and 11.5 games out of first place in the stacked west led by Utah at 29-14.
