• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Wizards win in Portland on Crawford's buzzer-beater

Jan 22, 2013 - 7:48 AM Portland, OR (Sports Network) - Jordan Crawford drained a 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to lift the Washington Wizards over the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-95, at the Rose Garden.

Crawford scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter to lead the Wizards to their fifth win in seven games.

Nene and Martell Webster paced Washington with 24 points apiece, while Nene added nine rebounds and five assists, and Webster dished out six assists.

Damian Lillard scored 18 points, Wesley Matthews poured in 17 and LaMarcus Aldridge recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds for Portland, which has dropped six straight.

Nicolas Batum posted the Trail Blazers' first regulation triple-double since Damon Stoudamire on April 15, 2005 with 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

"It's tough because we played so good," Batum said. "We're mad at ourselves because we know we're better than them."

Washington held a 69-64 lead entering the fourth quarter and stretched its advantage up to as much as 85-77 on Crawford's trey with 6:27 left in the game before Portland reeled off a 13-6 run to make it a one-point game with 2:22 remaining.

The Wizards then seemed to put the game away as a pair of turnovers led to dunks by Webster and John Wall for a 95-90 lead with 58.8 seconds left, but Lillard converted a layup at the other end, and following misses by Trevor Ariza and Wall on Washington's ensuing drive, Matthews connected on a shot from beyond the arc to knot the game at 95 with 7.9 seconds on the clock.

Coming out of a timeout with 3.6 seconds to go after the Trail Blazers used their last foul, Crawford grabbed an inbounds pass and shook off a defender before throwing up the game-winning shot that fell through as the buzzer sounded.

"I wanted to get a clean look," Crawford said about his game-winning shot. "I got open and was able to make it."

Washington held an early 19-12 lead behind 12 points from Nene before the Trail Blazers answered with a 9-0 push to go on top, 21-19, with 4:40 left in the first quarter.

But Webster followed a Nene layup with a 3-pointer to give the Wizards back the lead and they carried a 34-31 edge into the second quarter.

The teams then traded baskets in the second until a pair of Meyers Leonard field goals capped an 11-0 spurt to hand Portland a 48-40 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the half.

Washington, however, scored 10 of the final 13 points of the frame to get back within 51-50 at the break.

Both teams then struggled offensively in the third quarter as Portland went just 4-for-20 from the floor while Washington shot 6-for-21, but the Wizards used a 6-for-8 performance from the foul line to take a 69-64 lead into the fourth.

Game Notes

Emeka Okafor contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards ... Washington held a 44-42 advantage on the glass and a 44-40 edge in points in the paint ... Portland fell to 13-8 at home this season ... Washington improved to 3-17 on the road.