National Basketball Association
Portland 127, Washington 118
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 12, 2022
Where: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #83 Andy Nagy, #77 Karl Lane
Attendance: 17524

Josh Hart scored 28 points in the first half and finished with a career-high 44 as the Portland Trail Blazers ended their six-game losing streak with a 127-118 win over the visiting Washington Wizards on Saturday.

Trendon Watford scored a career-high 27 points for Portland, which had been outscored by a combined 194 points during its losing skid. Drew Eubanks scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Brandon Williams and CJ Elleby scored 10 points apiece.

Washington lost its third straight despite a strong outing from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers. Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points while Corey Kispert had 15, Daniel Gafford added 14 and Rui Hachimura had 12.

Hart was 15-for-21 shooting from the field, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range in his first career game scoring 30 or more points. The fifth-year pro added eight rebounds, six assists and four steals for Portland, which led by as many as 22 early in the third quarter.

Washington outscored the Blazers 37-31 in the third quarter to cut the gap to 103-91. Kuzma scored nine points in the period.

Thomas Bryant made two foul shots to pull the Wizards within 109-102 with 8:02 remaining before Portland responded with an 18-8 run to squelch the comeback attempt.

The Blazers recovered from an early 11-4 deficit and took a 38-26 lead into the second quarter after shooting 64 percent from the field.

Hart and Watford scored 11 points apiece in the first quarter for Portland, which stretched its lead to 68-46 after Hart hit a driving layup with 2:24 left in the half.

Hart finished the first half by shooting 10-for-14 from the field, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.

Portland scored more than 100 points for just the second time in its last seven games and outscored Washington 70-42 in the paint.

The Blazers listed eight inactive players for the contest, including top scorers Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons.

Ish Smith also scored 10 points for the Wizards, who made their first 24 foul shots and finished 26 of 27 from the line.

Washington center Kristaps Porzingis sat out after recording 14 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in a 122-109 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Portland
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 26 Scoring Josh Hart 44
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 5 Assists Josh Hart 6
Corey Kispert 5 Rebounds Drew Eubanks 12
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 9 Free Throws Made Josh Hart 8
Tomas Satoransky 2 Steals Josh Hart 4
Thomas Bryant 3 Blocks Greg Brown III 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Washington 118 47.0 14-34 26-27 26 35 8 7 15
Portland 127 51.6 11-30 20-22 21 43 3 10 11
Upcoming Games
  • Portland will play their next game on the road against Atlanta. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .480 after a win and .341 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game on the road against Golden State. The Wizards have a W/L % of .379 after a win and .486 after a loss.