Another good night for the Blazers. Alex Sarr and Washington Wizards82-80.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively – Donovan Clingan scored the first points of the game on a layup two minutes into the game, but neither team scored again until the fourth minute had passed – the Wizards finally got their offense going, going on a 12-2 run to take a 12-6 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter and take control of the game.
Portland and Washington traded blows at each other for the remainder of the first quarter and throughout the second quarter, but neither team was able to gain a significant advantage. Both teams struggled from the field in the first three quarters, but while the offensive prowess was lacking, the defensive prowess of Alex Sarr and Clingan was on full display.
Portland started to build an advantage in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Clingan, his first of the summer league, but a 14-1 run at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter put the Wizards back in the lead thanks to some great shooting from 14th overall pick Bub Carrington, who was part of the trade that sent Deni Avdija to Portland.
The Blazers went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead late in the game. Clingan returned to the game midway through the run, providing strong inside defense and racking up rebounds as the Wizards struggled to score late. Two late three-pointers from Washington put them in striking range, then a crucial turnover gave Carrington a chance to tie the game just before the buzzer. But Portland got lucky and won, 82-80.
A quick review
- Clingan continued to struggle to shoot the ball efficiently, but looked open on the roll to the basket. Hopefully playing with a passing point guard like Scoot Henderson will help unlock that side of his game. His defense is already clearly at that level. He added five blocks, bringing his total to a Summer League-high 12. He made a key block on Carrington on the perimeter late in the game and added 13 rebounds for a total of 37, also tops among Summer League players through three games.
- Rayanne Ruppert is still looking raw, but is slowly starting to get better. She still looked a bit lost at times, but her 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting was her best game of the summer league so far. She didn’t have any steals or blocks, but she had good defensive possessions throughout the game.
- The Blazers shot 34.8% from the field and just 30.0% from 3-point range in the game, but benefited from Washington’s even worse shooting performance, shooting just 33.3% from the field. No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr had a hard time offensively, going 0-for-15 from the field. Some of that was down to Clingan, but most of it was just poor shooting. If he had performed better, the game would not have been in Portland’s favor.
next time:
Portland will face the 2-0 Charlotte Hornets at the Pavilion at 8 pm Pacific time.
