• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Wall lifts Wizards over Trail Blazers

Feb 4, 2014 - 5:14 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - John Wall had 22 points, three steals and two blocks in the Washington Wizards' 100-90 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

Trevor Ariza made four 3-pointers en route to 20 points for the Wizards (24-23), who are above .500 for the first time since beating the Nets to improve to 2-1 on Halloween in 2009. Kevin Seraphin added 19 points.

"It's only one game over, but yeah it's a big relief. We've got bigger goals to try to keep winning games and try to not to go back down so we won't have to have this talk again," Wall said.

Damian Lillard ended with 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Blazers, who have lost three of four. LaMarcus Aldridge donated 20 points, 10 boards and six assists.

The Wizards, who led by one at the half, created some distance with a strong finish to the third quarter. Holding a 74-69 lead with 4:16 left, Washington scored the final eight points of the period to build a 13-point margin.

Seraphin, who scored the final four points of the third, tallied the first four points of the fourth stanza to make it an 86-69 game.

The Blazers went on a late run and got within 96-90 on Aldridge's layup with 1:12 to play. Portland, however, failed to make a shot the rest of the way.

"We've just got to stay with it and understand that rough patches are a part of this league," Lillard said.

The Wizards led 32-29 after the first quarter. The home team increased its margin to seven, 43-36, on Seraphin's hook shot with 6:54 to go until the break.

But the Blazers responded with a 12-0 surge to take the lead. Lillard bookended the spurt with a pair of layups to make it 48-43 with 4:24 remaining.

Aldridge added a jumper with 2:23 left to give Portland a 55-47 edge, but the Wizards scored the final nine points of the half. Wall made two free throws with 24.2 seconds remaining to give Washington a 56-55 edge.

Game Notes

Washington has won three straight against the Blazers ... Portland started a four-game road trip on Monday ... Wizards forward Trevor Booker missed the game due to personal reasons ... Washington went 19-of-22 from the foul line ... The Blazers committed seven of their 16 turnovers in the third quarter.