The Portland Trail Blazers couldn’t play with the Washington Wizards during Portland’s final game of the pre-All-Star-Game schedule on Tuesday night. The Wizards fielded big men capable of scoring. The Blazers fielded...well...not much besides Damian Lillard. His 39 points were amazing, but he labored hard against a defense that had nothing to do but hound him mercilessly. Brief moments of excitement punctuated an otherwise-muddled performance for the Blazers, who fell to 28-30 with the 126-101 loss.
If you missed the action, you can find our quarter-by-quarter recap here. After you’ve read that, here are the whys and wherefores of the blowout loss.