The Sports Xchange
Dec 6, 2017
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Bradley Beal scored a career-high 51 points as the Washington Wizards trounced the Portland Trail Blazers 106-92 Tuesday night at Moda Center.
Beal's fireworks helped the Wizards (13-11) atone for a 116-69 loss at Utah on Monday night.
Damian Lillard collected 30 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Trail Blazers (13-11), who lost their third consecutive game -- all at home. Portland's Jusuf Nurkic added 15 points and nine rebounds before leaving with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.
Beal had 19 points to help stake Washington to a 51-37 halftime lead over the Blazers, who shot 34.2 percent and had 13 turnovers in the first half.
Washington started the third quarter with a 10-1 spurt to increase its advantage to 61-38. The Blazers responded with a 15-2 run to draw to within 63-53, but the Wizards came back with a 9-0 tear to go up 72-53. The difference was 79-66 heading into the final period.
The Wizards extended their lead to 97-76 on Tomas Satoransky's 3-pointer with five minutes left. Portland scored the game's next 11 points to close within 97-87 with 1:53 to go. Satoransky ended the Wizards' drought with a runner with 1:37 remaining, and Beal's 3-pointer with 1:10 left sealed the verdict.
Beal scored 12 of Washington's first 18 points as the Wizards seized a 24-22 lead after one quarter.
Washington started the second quarter on a 7-0 run to go ahead 31-22. The Wizards scored the final seven points of the quarter to go into the half up by 14.
NOTES: Washington G John Wall (knee) missed his sixth straight game. ... Washington G Bradley Beal's previous career scoring high was 42 points. ... Portland G Damian Lillard has made 163 free throws, second most in the NBA behind Houston's James Harden (174) ... The Wizards were coming off a 116-69 loss at Utah on Monday night, the second most one-sided defeat in franchise history. "We played like garbage," coach Scott Brooks said. "We gotta own it and move on, because there's always a game the next night."