Beal drops career-best 51 as Wizards stops slumping Blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. — Bradley Beal scored a career-high 51 points, and the Washington Wizards bounced back from a demoralizing loss the night before to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 106-92 on Tuesday night (Wednesday, Manila time).

Beal made 21 field goals, also a career high, and the Wizards led by as many as 23 points. He hit five 3pointers.

Damian Lillard finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Blazers, who have lost three straight at home after returning from a 4-1 trip.

Portland was hurt midway through the final quarter when center Jusuf Nurkic limped off the court and to the locker room after appearing to injure his right ankle. He had 15 points and nine rebounds before leaving.

The Wizards were coming off a 116-69 loss Monday night at Utah, the second-largest losing margin in franchise history.

Playing without AllStar John Wall for the sixth straight game, the Wizards came out like they did not want a repeat of the night before. They went on an 11-0 run to go up 3122 in the first half, capped by Kelly Oubre Jr.'s pull-up jumper, and went on to lead 5137 at the break.

Beal scored 19 firsthalf points, and the Wizards collectively had 12 steals by the break.

Portland, meanwhile, had 13 turnovers at the half.

Beal's 20-foot jumper gave the Wizards a 61-38 lead in the third quarter, but the Blazers clawed back to within 63-52 on Lillard's 3-pointer and a free throw.

Lillard appeared to tweak his left hip late in the quarter, and at times he grimaced — but he had 15 points in the period to help keep the Blazers in it.

CJ McCollum's layup got Portland within 81-72, but Beal answered with a 3pointer that put him over his previous career high. Beal had 42 points against Phoenix on Nov. 21 last year.

Al-Farouq Aminu made a 3-pointer that pulled Portland within 99-90 with 1:28 left, but that was as close as Portland would come. Beal dunked with 24 seconds left to punctuate his performance.

Portland coach Terry Stotts tinkered a bit with his lineup, starting Aminu and Maurice Harkless, while sending Pat Connaughton and Noah Vonleh to the bench.

In Oklahoma City, The Thunders came back from a 17-point third quarter deficit with a scorching fourth period blitz to shock the Utah Jazz, 100-94, on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time).

With Utah’s suffocating defense, Oklahoma City looked lifeless early with only 39 points in the first half and falling behind by as much as 17 in the third.

But Paul George sparked a 13-2 fourth quarter start to cut the lead down to 82-81 at the six-minute mark. The Jazz got the advantage back up to five, before Russell Westbrook finally gave the Thunder their first taste of the lead since the opening basket with a transition bucket then fed Carmelo Anthony for a jumper to put OKC up 90-87 with 3:35 to go.

A three-point play by Alex Burks got the Jazz back on the driver’s seat momentarily as George quickly answered with his own hoop-and-harm and Anthony scored on a fastbreak layup off a steal to put the Thunder up 95-92 with a little over a minute left.

A tip-in by Steven Adams off an Anthony missed jumper gave OKC some more breathing room with a 97-92 edge and only 43 ticks remaining. The Thunder then hit enough free throws to complete the comeback for their third straight win.

Westbrook had his seventh triple-double of the season with 34 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds to lead the Thunder (11-12) to their third straight win. George and Adams scored 21 and 20, respectively, while Anthony added 14 markers.

The Jazz (13-12) saw their six-game win run stopped despite getting 31 points from rookie Donovan Mitchell. Joe Ingles added 16 markers. AP