Man, it was a close one, right down to the final second of overtime, but the Blazers lost their first game of the season, 124-125, in an OT thriller. The Washington Wizards aren’t a bad team and they had their backs against the wall after losing the first two games of their young season. They clearly came to play, and unfortunately, the Blazer’s star backcourt had an off shooting night. Even so, it was fun to watch as the lead changed hands an astonishing 29 times and Lillard’s final shot, which would have won it, got blocked at the buzzer.
But wait, take a look at the various costumes worn by the Blazers as they arrived for their last home game before Halloween. That’s Jusuf Nurkic as “The Beast” and Damian Lillard as Stone Cold Steve Austin:
🏀 vs @WashWizards
📍 @ModaCenter
⌚️6 p.m. Trail Blazers Outsiders > https://t.co/zsMeDPzXDf
⏰ 7 p.m.
📺 @NBCSNorthwest pic.twitter.com/8Gft3SUzs2
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 23, 2018
It really did feel like the Blazers were going to win this game, but they could never quite build a big lead over those feisty Wizards. Markieff Morris especially proved to be a difficult matchup for the Blazers. He went 6-10 on three point shots and scored 28. Lillard led all scorers with 29, but many of those came at the free throw line as he only went 7-21 from the field.
The Wizards are a bit like the Eastern conference version of the Blazers, a playoff team that has had trouble breaking into the elite level. Like Portland, they are also led by two high quality guards in John Wall and Bradley Beal. Watching Lillard and McCollum battle with these two is always fun, but this game wasn’t won or lost on guard play for the most part, though Beal did hit a killer three point shot to send the game into OT.
For a brief moment in the second quarter it seemed like the Blazers might slip away with the game as the second unit built up a double digit lead. Washington stuck around though and tied it up at the half.
Here’s a look at the fan scene in the hallways during the break:
This woman has been a blazer fan since 1970. She got this sweatshirt in 1976, the year before they won the championship. Back then their season tickets cost $4.50 a game. When asked about this year’s team she said, “I’m thrilled with the bench!”
The dude on the left had just seen Gwar last week and picked up this T-shirt. He was stoked when he realized the black/red color scheme would work for a Blazers game too.
This woman, Rolia Manyongai-Jones, is a famous Blazers fan. They show her dancing on the jumbotron every game. She’s from Liberia, and arrived in Portland in 1979 having never seen a basketball game. She’s been a season ticket holder now for 35 years. Asked about this years team she said, “I really like that they are sharing the ball.”
I liked how this guy on the right came dressed to play ball:
Family outing!
Alright, back to the game. The second half was full of excitement and turnovers. Neither team looked crisp, but both had streaks of hard play which kept things close. Jusuf Nurkic seemed dominant at times, grabbing 18 rebounds and scoring 22 points, but he struggled on defense and couldn’t quite keep up with the smaller Markief Morris. Nik Stauskas had another fine game, bringing the hustle and hitting a huge 3 pointer with 12 seconds left which looked like it was going to win the game. Here he is celebrating that shot:
In only 3 games Stauskas has already become a fan favorite and is clearly enjoying himself here in Portland. With the Blazer lead at 3 only only seconds remaining, it seemed like Stauskas had won the game with that shot, but then John Wall took the ball down, faked a shot, and dished it to Bradley Beal for a wide open 3, which he hit with ice-cold precision, sending the game into overtime.
Overtime seemed to favor the Wizards, who now had the momentum and friggin’ Morris kept hitting the long shots. Things seemed lost as the Wizards went up by 4 with only 9 seconds left, but then CJ hit a wild three pointer and John Wall missed two free throws, leaving the Blazers down by only one point with seconds ticking away. Lillard dashed down the court and drove to the bucket, launching a nice layup right before the buzzer sounded. But Otto Porter was on his tail and blocked it out of bounds, ending the game. Here’s a picture of that final tantalizing shot, a would-be game winner:
It was a stunning end to an exciting game. The crowd took a few moments to comprehend what had happened and then filed out dejectedly as the Wizards celebrated their first win of the season. If only Lillard had gotten that shot off before Porter chased him down, what an awesome finish that would have been….
The Blazers hit the road now, playing the Orlando Magic on Thursday. They should win that one, but nothing is certain as this new season takes shape.