The Portland Trail Blazers playing the Washington Wizards will not lead Sportscenter tonight, but the matchup did showcase some of the young talent coming up in the NBA. In the battle of youth, the Blazers would defeat the Wizards 112-97 in front of a Saint Patrick’s Day crowd at Moda Center. The Blazers used steals and three-point shooting to suffocate Washington. Portland would end up shooting only 32% from deep, but it was when they connected on the threes that mattered. Most of them came in the first half, creating a double-digit lead. The Wizards would make small runs, but never get within striking distance.
The only Blazers veteran to see the court tonight was Matisse Thybulle, who made quite a statement in his first game back this season, recording the game sealing block against the Toronto Raptors. Tonight Thybulle led the charge on defense for the Blazers, holding the Wizards to under 100 points and creating plays that led to some highlight dunks.
Here are five points of extended analysis to better understand how the Blazers got the win tonight against the Wizards.
The MVP of the Game
The 2024-25 version of the Washington Wizards won’t go down as a defensive juggernaut, but Anfernee Simons basically had his way with the Eastern Conference last place team. Simons would finish with 30 points on 10-17 shooting. He was perfect at the free-throw line (5-5) and 5-11 from deep. Simons being a threat from the three-point line allowed him to find space in the paint.
On three separate occasions between the second and third quarter, Simons used a shifty right-hand hook shot when attacking the Wizards interior defense. Simons would hit two of them and get fouled on the third. Ant only recorded two assists, but he finished with a team high +21 while on the floor in only 23 minutes of play. When Simons is cooking, not many can hang in the kitchen.
Blazers Three Point Shooting
The Blazers rank 20th in the NBA with 12.8 three pointers made per game. Tonight against the Wizards the Blazers had 10 made threes at the halfway point of the contest. The Blazers would finish with 15. It’s no secret that teams who shoot the long ball at a high clip tend to win more games than those who don’t shoot it well.
The Blazers had four players with two or more made threes in the first half. Compared to the Wizards who had only three and you’ll understand why Portland had a 10-point lead at the break and would gone on to win comfortably.
Clingan on Defense
Alex Sarr was drafted five spots ahead of Donovan Clingan in the 2024 NBA draft. Sarr had been the front-runner to be selected number one overall before falling second to Washington. On the other hand, Clingan skyrocketed up teams’ draft boards and even earned some air time about going first overall to the Atlanta Hawks. Why does this matter? Well tonight we had the pleasure of watching a lot of Sarr versus Clingan.
Before you think this battle took place in the paint, you’ll need to remind yourself that it is the year 2025 and the NBA game happens at the three-point line. Sarr brought Clingan out of the painted area and made him defend. Sarr would end up taking nine long distance shots, and to Clingan’s credit he would hold Sarr to making three of them.
The point is Clingan will be forced to defend on the perimeter over the course of his career. Teams will find this as a way to counter his height and length. Even though Sarr scored a team-high 20 points, Clingan did a great job of keeping a hand in his face and showing on screens in order to retreat back to the paint. The Wizards don’t have the most threatening pick and roll offense in the league, but Clingan defended correctly.
Stole My Breath Away
The Sultan of Steals, the Dictator of Deflections, the Tyrant of Turnovers, Matisse Thybulle logged 22 minutes of action and was a menace the entire time. It’s been almost a year since we last saw Thybulle, and I had even forgotten how incredible he is on the defensive end of the court, especially when it comes to forcing steals. Thybulle nearly picked the pocket of every Wizard guard or forward. But what caught my attention was the Blazers recording 15 steals as a team. (They average 8 on the season.) Thybulle clearly inspired the rest of the Blazers tonight against the Wizards. Steals and deflections force transition action for the Blazers and when Portland is in the open court, good things happen.
Not So Fowl
All season the Trail Blazers have been a fouling machine, averaging almost 20 per game. I understand young teams tend to commit more fouls in the veteran-run NBA, but there can still be improvement in the category. Tonight, Portland was locked in, only committing 10 fouls the entire game. For those math “Wizards” out there, that is 2.5 fouls per quarter.
The return of Thybulle played a role in this improvement, but the Blazers were also communicating on defense. There was a breakdown in the second quarter between Deni Avdija and Duop Reath. Instead of giving up a free layup and moving on, Reath was visibly upset at Avdija. There was clearly miscommunication on defense and Reath did not want it to go unnoticed. The Blazers want to continue to improve in areas of weakness this season and end on a high note.
Up Next
Boxscore
The Blazers welcome the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night with a 7:00 PM, Pacific start.