BREAK UP THE WIZ

Written By Jeremy Batka @EastCoastAssn

Thanks to a buzzer beating three pointer from Jordan Crawford the Wizards managed to sweep the Trail Blazers in Portland Monday night 98-95.

Impressive depth and good team defense allowed the Wizards to hand Portland their sixth straight loss. The Wizards led by as much as 8 points in the fourth quarter but it was a games of runs and Washington was not able to pull away from Portland until the final shot.

On a night when John Wall and Bradley Beal did not play their best it was nice to see other players step up and pick up the slack. Beal and Wall had a combined 8 points although it should be noted that Wall should have had more assists if weren't for some early game butter fingers from his teammates. 

Martell Webster played his first five years in Portland and tonight he scorched his former team dropping 24 points going 4-6 from beyond the arc. Webster also had six assists and four rebounds and lead team in minutes with 38.

Enough can't be said about Wizards' big men Nene and Emeka Okafor. Nene had 24 points nine rebounds five assists and four steals carrying the Wizards in the first half. Okafor had 13 points and 13 rebounds as both big men also played great defense.

But the night belonged to Jordan Crawford. Randy Wittman went to Crawford late with Beal struggling. Crawford did not disappoint knocking down multiple deep threes on an efficient 3-4 from three point land, he had 13 points total.

Crawford had been quiet since his return from injury but that all changed tonight. It's clear that with a healthy John Wall this Wizards team can win plenty of ball games, but if somehow Crawford can be an efficient bench scorer, there's no telling how high this team can go.

The Wizards will finish their western road trip Wednesday night in Utah. Wizards will be looking for their sixth win in their last eight games.

Blazers Bring Wizards Back To Earth

The Trailblazers were playing the second game of a back to back.  The previous night they were down almost 40 points to the Boston Celtics at one point in the game.  The Wizards were coming off of 2 days rest.  The previous game they defeated the Lakers after a huge comeback and playoff style basketball.

That Lakers game was the Wizards championship.  That was the peak of the season.  From here on out it is back to the usual Wizards basketball.  Basketball that features Nick Young firing up sixteen bombs and making only 4 which is 25%.  Basketball that features Jordan Crawford throwing pointless no look passes and taking terrible shots (3 for 10).  Basketball that features Andray Blatche scoring 2 points in 15 minutes.   Basketball that features, or should I say "doesn't feature", the 6th pick in the draft Jan Vesely.

The Wizards were playing College style defense against the Lakers in the 2nd half, but they were playing Matador defense against the Blazers.   Aldridge just walked up to the basket at will to slam it in when he felt like it.  J Crawford scored 23...wrong J Crawford.  Felton did what guards do against John Wall, scored 11 points above his season average.

Once again Wall had to lead the team by driving to the basket and falling on the ground.  He scored 25 but he clearly has no help.  Monday night's game in San Antonio should be fun...

Latest Trade Rumor: Steve Blake & The Blazers

A lot of good stuff in the Chad Ford article today, talking about possible trades for the #5 pick including:

"The Blazers could part ways with Steve Blake, Jerryd Bayless, or Travis Outlaw."

PG: Steve Blake
SG: Gilbert Arenas
SF: Caron Butler
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Brendan Haywood

We talked the other day about Bayless & Outlaw, but could Steve Blake return to Washington as a starter? Juan Dixon came back. The ACC crowd would love to see Blake. He was the starting PG for the playoff Blazers last year. He can hit the 3. Would he be better than a Steph Curry? Maybe. This is a tough one, but I'd rather have Curry.

Latest Trade Rumor: The Trailblazers & Jerryd Bayless

Chad Ford (scroll down) from ESPN puts out a rumor about the Trailblazers being interested in the #5 pick. This #5 pick is really heating up. The Blazers may be eying Rubio at the fifth pick.

France's Nicolas Batum, Jerryd Bayless, and Travis Outlaw are names that Ford throws out.

Bayless could be promising as he was the Summer League MVP last year, and could fit in better than a rookie in the current draft. Batum, who I've never heard of, was a non-scoring starter for the playoff Blazers, and is 6'8". Outlaw was a solid bench guy at over 12 points per game.

I'm not sure that the Wizards will pull the strings on one of these players as 2 of these guys are only 1 year deep in the league. Outlaw could maybe be a good sub for Jamison, but the Wizards really need a power forward.

• ESPN: Draft Buzz Roundup