Blazers complete miracle comeback, beat Wizards 108-105

The Portland Trail Blazers played the fourth game of their five-game road trip against a Washington Wizards team missing their best player.

John Wall had an MRI on his left knee, and pregame reporting announce that he’d be out for at least two weeks.

Injuries notwithstanding, the game started as a roller coaster ride.

The Blazers took an 11-4 lead, only to see the Wizards go on a 17-4 run of their own.

Trailing 21-15 with about four minutes left in the quarter, Stotts went to the Portland bench.

After trailing by as many as nine, the Blazers went on a 9-3 run of their own to close the gap to 30-27 after the first.

The Wizards extended their lead in the second, and the Blazers were struggling with a response. While the home crowd wasn’t particularly amped, Washington jumped out to their largest lead at 42-33 with seven minutes left in the half.

The Blazers clawed their way back as Damian Lillard, held scoreless for the game’s first 11 minutes, scored 11 points between the end of the first quarter and the end of the half. The Wizards lead was cut to two…

…but it didn’t last. Portland soon found themselves on the wrong end of a 52-41 halftime deficit.

Star of the First Half: Ed Davis – 6 points (3-3 FG), 6 boards, 1 block

The pain continued in the third.

The Blazers fell behind by as many as 15. A Dame three and a Noah Vonleh flurry of rebounds, including a putback dunk, kept the Blazers from falling into an abyss.

Another sudden shift, and the Blazers found themselves drawing an offensive foul, then getting a technical free throw, then nailing a three. Just like that, the deficit was 64-61 with 5 minutes left in the third.

The roller coaster ride continued, but it felt a lot like Portland was running in sand.

Heading into the fourth, the Wizards led 83-73.

It got worse from there.

Down 15 with 9:41 to go, Stotts called time, the Blazers on their heels.

It felt that there was no rescue as they fell behind by 17 after the timeout. There was no obvious hero to swoop in to save the Blazers. No late-game outburst from Dame or CJ McCollum felt that it would be enough.

How wrong that was.

Portland pushed back one last time. They got to within four points with three minutes to go. And Markieff Morris was hit with a Flagrant 1 for pulling Jusuf Nurkic down by the neck late in the game.

Portland kept pushing.

McCollum hit a three. Then he made a layin, then a jumper.

After being down by as many as 17 in the fourth, the Blazers took the lead with 21 seconds left.

Portland needed a stop… and they got it! Pat Connaughton was fouled, he canned both free throws, and that was all she wrote.

With 24 second-half points from McCollum, the Blazers walked off unlikely winners, 108-105.

Three Takeaways

1) This team is resilient. You can count on one hand the number of 17-point deficits that have been overcome in the NBA with nine minutes to go. But Portland did it. While the Blazers have had an up-and-down season, wins like this, on the road, after being down major double-digits late to a good team (albeit one missing their best player) are a huge confidence boost. And it matters. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, and snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat may matter when playoff seeding becomes important late in the season.

2) Ed Davis is important to this team. When Portland needed some punch, they got it with Ed. He’s averaging a career high 7.9 boards per game, and while his shooting is down, his defensive rating is also near a career-best. Tonight he was 4-4 for eight points and six rebounds. He wasn’t the Blazers’ most important player, but he played his role when they sorely needed him. Nice, work, Ed.

Next: John Wall out as Portland Trail Blazers take on Washington Wizards

3) You have to put your foot down. Once Portland blitzed out to an early lead, they could have pushed it out or maintained it. As a team, being down the entire game (even if you’re only down by a few points) is a MUCH different feeling than if you erase an early lead and snag one of your own. The Blazers had the chance to set the tone for this game. They failed. It worked out in the end, but you have to build your leads, not let them slip.

Next Game

Portland completes their five-game trip in New York against the Knicks on Mon. Nov. 27 at 4:30pm Pacific.