Washington Wizards: 5 Takeaways from OT win against the Blazers
The Washington Wizards managed to outlast the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime to get their first victory of the season.
The Washington Wizards were able to avoid an 0-3 start and steal one from the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime, winning 125-124. For the most part, it was a good all-around team effort by the Wizards.
The Wizards wouldn’t be 1-2 if they would’ve played with the determination and hustle they had last night. At one point they were down by ten in the second quarter, but managed a decent rally to tie the game heading into halftime.
It was a struggle to watch the third quarter as both teams only scored a combined 31 points. Both teams came out and looked very sloppy. It seemed as though Washington and Portland had all their turnovers in the third quarter, which made it an ugly battle.
The two surprising performers of the game were Markieff Morris and Nik Stauskas. Both hit multiple clutch 3’s towards the end of the fourth. Stauskas hit a 3-pointer to put the Blazers up three with about 6 seconds left on the clock. John Wall had the ball in his hand for the last shot, but gave it up to Bradley Beal, who hit the game tying bucket to to send it into overtime.
It was more of the same in OT. Both teams were aggressive and kept trading baskets. Wall hit an ugly bank shot to put the Wizards up 125-121. CJ McCollum made an appearance, since he struggled all game shooting 5-25 from the field, and drained a three pointer to put the team down by one.
The Blazers, then, fouled Wall, leaving 6.6 seconds on the clock. Wall missed both free-throws, which was extremely embarrassing and disappointing to watch.
In the final seconds, Damian Lillard tried to have another heroic moment, but his last second attempt was blocked by Otto Porter Jr., giving the Wizards the win. It was a dual that didn’t disappoint. We were able to see multiple big moments and a great overtime game.
Let’s take a look at 5 takeaways from Washington’s first win of the season.