WASHINGTON — The Portland Trail Blazers have had trouble on the road all season, and were coming off one of the low points the previous night. They got a much-needed win against one of the league’s worst teams.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 10 rebounds as the Trail Blazers beat the Washington Wizards 110-99 on Saturday night to end a four-game road losing streak.
Portland’s skid included the first two games of their current seven-game road trip, including a 104-86 defeat at Boston on Friday night.
“Whenever you lose, especially the way we lost, we’re blessed to have an opportunity to come back the next night,” said Portland’s Jamal Crawford, who scored 23 points. “Usually if you lose a game like last night, you sit on it for two or three days with the schedule the way it is.”
Aldridge shot 12 for 15 from the floor and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line, topping 20 points for the third straight game.
“I was just locked in tonight,” Aldridge said. “I just felt good.”
Raymond Felton added 21 points — 10 in the fourth quarter — as the Trail Blazers improved to 6-14 on the road, compared to 14-7 at home.
John Wall had 25 points and eight assists, JaVale McGee scored 15 points and Chris Singleton added 12 for Washington. The Wizards were coming off a 106-101 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, but again failed to start a winning streak. Washington has only won consecutive games once this season.
“We couldn’t get stops together when we needed to,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “We’ve got to become more committed defensively as a group. You’ve got to be able in that fourth quarter to put two, three, four stops in a row together to get over that hump, and I didn’t think we could do that tonight.”
In addition to trying to stop their road woes, the Trail Blazers also came in looking for a measure of revenge for a 124-109 home loss to Washington on Feb. 14.
“There’s a lot of motivation for this game,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said before the contest.
The Trail Blazers had the edge almost the entire game — they didn’t trail after the first quarter — but couldn’t pull away from the Wizards until late.
The Blazers finally wore down Washington in the fourth, opening up their first double-digit lead of the game. Felton converted a three-point play with 3:55 left to give Portland a 102-90 lead, and Gerald Wallace’s layup with 2:49 left gave Portland their largest lead of the game, 106-93.
After two baskets by the Wizards, Crawford’s 3-pointer with 1:19 gave the Trail Blazers a 109-97 lead and sealed the win.
“Basically, they got whatever they wanted,” Wall said.
Late in the second quarter, tempers briefly flared between the two teams. Portland center Marcus Camby was called for a flagrant 2 and ejected after getting tangled up with Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin as they fought for a rebound. Camby shoved Seraphin to the ground, and Seraphin got up and pushed Camby in the chest before the two were separated. Seraphin was also given a technical on the play.
“I really don’t know why he got mad, because I boxed him out,” Seraphin said. “I can’t let people push me like that. I fell down, and I stand up and I said, `What’s up?”‘
Camby said he thought Seraphin had his forearm on Camby’s throat, and the Blazers’ center let the frustration over the team’s recent struggles get to him. Camby said he “felt embarrassed” after the incident, but was surprised at the severity of the punishment.
“It’s something I’m definitely going to send into the league, and see what happens from there,” Camby said.
NOTES: The Trail Blazers were a season-best 26 of 27 from the free-throw line. … The Wizards were whistled for three defensive 3-second violation technical fouls.
