The Portland Trail Blazers fell 118-117 to the Washington Wizards on Thursday night in another game that saw the Blazers furiously claw their way back after a slow start.
But unlike Tuesday's game against the Phoenix Suns, the Blazers fell just short against Washington. Portland had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but forward Jerami Grant missed a layup off of an out of bounds play:
Blazers wish they had this one back pic.twitter.com/nePPkFtBMT
— Peter Sampson (@PeterSampson) December 22, 2023
Interestingly, Anfernee Simons, who singlehandedly brought the Blazers back with 22 points in the final quarter (41 for the game), did not get the last shot of the game. Coach Billups was asked about the final play after the game:
Coach Billups on Grant getting the last shot instead of Simons pic.twitter.com/yrITq3Fsz5
— Peter Sampson (@PeterSampson) December 22, 2023
Said Billups on the final play, “It was the same play we had ran right before that when (Simons) got the dunk and had come downhill, and there were several options on the play. Jerami just caught it and kind of went one on one, which, you know, I've got to live with that. You know, he's one of my best players. He's a great one on one player. Obviously, I wish he would've went a little sooner, just in case he missed it we got a chance for a tip back, but he took a little too long to get there. Obviously, it was a play we ran before where we got the ball to (Simons) and he got downhill, he just didn't get it there.”
So, the question is – did Grant decide to take it one-on-one when he should have found Simons, the Blazers player who was absolutely cooking the Wizards? Or was Simons too slow coming into the front court? Was he a decoy?
Whatever the answer, the Blazers came up just short in what could have been a thrilling home victory and the chance to notch consecutive wins for the first time since November.
Up next: The Blazers travel to the Bay Area and take on the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
Follow Us
Subscribe