Trail Blazers-Wizards Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Nov 27 2012 10:01PM

The Portland Trail Blazers' long road trip hasn't gotten off to a fabulous start, but their struggles seem minimal compared to those of the Washington Wizards.

Portland continues its seven-game road stretch against Eastern Conference foes Wednesday night as it looks to keep Washington winless.

The Blazers (6-8) set a season low for points in a 98-85 loss to Brooklyn to open their trip Sunday before falling 108-101 at Detroit the following night. Damian Lillard started the trip leading all rookies with an average of 20.2 points, but he's been held in check the past two games.

Lillard hit 4 of 12 from the field and scored 13 points against the Nets, then missed his first 12 shots before finishing 4 of 18 and tying his season low with 12 points Monday.

LaMarcus Aldridge hit 12 of his 22 shots and finished with a season-high 32 points and 10 rebounds after sitting out Sunday's game with back spasms.

"I know we can do better than this. We shouldn't keep getting off to slow starts and playing this kind of defense," Aldridge said. "I don't know how to fix it."

Nicolas Batum struggled for the third straight game, going 2 for 9 and scoring seven points. He's averaging 9.3 points - 8.5 below his average - and shooting 31.3 percent during his rough stretch.

Portland is averaging 33.6 points in the paint - better only than Washington's league-worst average of 31.0 - but coach Terry Stotts doesn't seem too concerned about his team's interior inefficiencies.

"We are not a paint-scoring team," Stotts said. "(Aldridge) will get there and we will get some offensive rebounds, but our primary scorers - (Lillard), (Wesley Matthews), and (Batum) - are not in-the-paint scorers. I do not necessarily expect to win points in the paint."

Not many expect the Wizards to win, period, considering they became the 12th team in NBA history to start 0-12 after falling 118-92 to San Antonio on Monday.

Jordan Crawford scored a game-high 19 points off the bench while Kevin Seraphin added 18 for Washington, which again played without Nene as he deals with a nagging left foot injury that has kept him out of 10 games.

Coach Randy Wittman said he'll be a game-time decision Wednesday.

"It's another loss. I don't know what you want me to say," Wittman said. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves. Nobody in this league feels sorry for us. We can't add onto the problem and feel sorry for ourselves."

Martell Webster, whom the Blazers selected sixth overall in the 2005 draft, hit 5 of 7 from the field and had 16 points after scoring a season-high 21 against Charlotte on Saturday. Though he said the team isn't getting down on itself, everyone needs to play with more energy.

"We're all embarrassed - plain and simple," Webster said. "We knew the gameplan, we didn't come out and execute it. All-around effort was not up to par. We have to be better, there's no excuses.

"We can't look anywhere for help. This is what we have."

Batum scored a then-career high 33 points but Aldridge left with an injury in the first quarter of Washington's 124-109 win at the Rose Garden on Feb. 14. Aldridge came back to score 30 points and grab 10 rebounds as the Blazers won 110-99 in the nation's capital March 10.

Wizards beat Blazers for 1st win after 12 losses

Posted Nov 28 2012 11:18PM

WASHINGTON (AP) After their worst start in history, the Washington Wizards became a national punch line. On TNT, Charles Barkley compared them with the Washington Generals, and a local newspaper had photos of fans wearing paper bags over their heads at Monday's 26-point loss to San Antonio.

The jokes can stop - at least for now.

Washington earned its first victory after starting the season with 12 straight losses, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 84-82 on Wednesday night.

"When you're 0-12, guys are going to make fun. That's our business, guys," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

"When you get to this level, you've got to have some thick skin, and you've got to be able to overcome those kind of things."

Washington survived a scoreless 6:47 in the fourth when Jordan Crawford, who had 19 points, hit on a 3-pointer with 2:06 to play. The Wizards finally took the 84-82 lead on Emeka Okafor's two free throws with 39.1 seconds remaining.

Damian Lillard was called for traveling with 28 seconds left. After Nene was called for an offensive foul, J.J. Hickson missed a jumper with 2.8 seconds to play. The Wizards lost the ball with 0.2 seconds to go, but held on to end the skid.

"Well, we made it interesting, but we won," Wittman said.

Nine teams started the season 0-13, and the Wizards were tired of the ridicule they'd been subjected to - locally and nationally - as they crept toward the Nets' NBA record-worst start of 0-18.

"We don't want to go down in history as one of the worst teams ever," Washington forward Chris Singleton said.

Wittman, whose team travels to New York on Friday and plays Miami next Tuesday, knows the next win may be hard to get.

"We just broke through the ice. I've lived in Minnesota for 15, 17 years. That ice was 4 or 5 feet deep, but it's broken through now," Wittman said.

Trevor Ariza had 14 and Kevin Seraphin added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Washington, which ended the third quarter on a 23-7 run to take a 68-59 lead, then padded its lead to 15 barely three minutes into the fourth.

The 79-64 lead seemed safe - even for the Wizards - but the Trail Blazers ran off 16 straight points to take a 80-79 lead with 2:27 to play.

Lillard and Nicolas Batum led Portland, losers of three straight, with 20. LaMarcus Aldridge had 17. Hickson had 15 points and 19 rebounds.

"Loss is a loss, but this one definitely stings knowing the team is 0-12. You never want to be the team they get the win on but we were that team," Hickson said.

Wesley Matthews addressed the Blazers after his team lost, and all his teammates were especially downcast.

"You don't want to be the first team, that's very embarrassing," Batum said.

Martel Webster had also used "embarrassing" to describe Washington's 26-point loss on Monday. He was a bit relieved after the game.

"We are definitely an underdog. We're definitely looked at as the losers of the league, but that's OK. We believe in each other," Webster said.

Rookie Bradley Beal wasn't celebrating his first NBA win - one that took 29 days to get. He claimed, like most of the Wizards, to ignore the chatter on TV and in the cyber world.

"I don't pay attention to that stuff. They're on the outside looking in. They don't know how hard we work. They just see us playing and the scores," Beal said.

The Blazers hit six of their first seven shots and took a 15-4 lead four minutes into the game.

Nene entered the game with 1:43 to play and helped spur the Wizards to a 37-31 lead with six minutes to play in the first half. At halftime, the teams were tied at 43-all.

After missing the first nine games of the season with a left foot injury, Nene played two games before missing Monday night's loss. He had six points in 19 minutes.

"For tonight: fresh air, that's all I can say," Nene said.

Notes: Washington F Trevor Booker missed his fourth straight game with a right knee injury. ... This was the 100th all-time meeting between the teams. Portland leads 52-48. ... The Wizards' bench outscored the Trail Blazers' 46-4. ... Portland has four more games in eight days left on this season-high, seven-game road trip: at Boston, Cleveland, Charlotte and Indiana.

Notebook: Wizards 84, Trail Blazers 82

Rich Dubroff, For NBA.com
Posted Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:00 AM - Updated Thu Nov 29, 2012 2:11 AM

THE FACTS: Jordan Crawford had 19 points, Trevor Ariza added 14 and Kevin Seraphin had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to their first win after a season-opening 12 losses, 84-82 over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

The Wizards opened up a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Blazers (6-9) held Washington scoreless for nearly seven minutes as they went on a 16-0 run to take an 80-79 lead with 2:27 to play. Emeka Okafor's two free throws with 39.1 seconds left sealed it for the Wizards.

Portland, which has lost the first three of a season-long, seven-game road trip, was led by Damian Lillard and Nicolas Batum who each had 20. LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 and J.J. Hickson had 15 points and 19 rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "We don't want to go down in history as one of the worst teams ever."

-- Wizards forward Chris Singleton on Washington's win

THE STAT: The Wizards' bench outscored the Blazers' 46-4.

TURNING POINT: Washington withstood the 16-0 run after going scoreless for 6:47 in the fourth quarter.

QUOTABLE II : "A loss is a loss, but this one definitely stings knowing the team is 0-12. You never want to be the team they get the win on, but we were that team."

-- J.J. Hickson on being embarrassed by the loss

.

HOT: Ariza was 6-for-9 from the field as he helped the Wizards take a 68-59 lead after three quarters.

NOT: The Blazers' bench combined to go 2-for-13 from the field.

GOOD MOVE: Washington coach Randy Wittman limited Nene to 19 minutes in his third game. He had six points. After Nene played 29 minutes in a double-overtime loss to Charlotte last Saturday, he missed Monday's game against San Antonio when his left foot injury, which cost him the first nine games of the season, flared up.

BAD MOVE: The Blazers' backcourt, Lillard and Wesley Matthews, kept shooting. They combined to shoot 8-for-31.

NOTABLE: Nine teams started the season 0-13. Washington avoided being the 10th.

IN THE ARENA: The 14,114 fans who were in attendance were appreciative, but not overly loud about the Wizards' first win in seven months and two days.

NEXT: For Trail Blazers, Friday @ Celtics, Saturday @ Cavaliers, Monday @ Bobcats. For Wizards, Friday @ Knicks, Tuesday vs. Heat, Dec. 7 @ Hawks.

• Trail Blazers: Claver, Williams
• Wizards: Booker, Wall

• Trail Blazers: --
• Wizards: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #9 Derrick Stafford, #16 David Guthrie, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 14114
• Duration: 2:11