McCollum helps Blazers to 108-105 comeback win over Wizards

WASHINGTON (AP) – C.J. McCollum scored 26 points, including seven straight during a 10-0 game-closing run, and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the short-handed Washington Wizards 108-105 on Saturday night.
 
Damian Lillard scored 29 points for Portland, which won for a second consecutive night on the East Coast in dramatic fashion after a 127-125 victory at Brooklyn on Friday.
 
Jusuf Nurkick had 17 points and Noah Vonleh grabbed 10 rebounds for the Blazers.
 
Bradley Beal scored 26 points and Otto Porter added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Washington in the first game of what the team expects to be a two-week stretch without All-Star point guard John Wall.
 
Beal missed a jumper to give Washington back the lead with 6.5 seconds left and a potential game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer on a day that began with the Wizards announcing Wall would be sidelined with left knee inflammation.
 
The Wizards led 94-77 before Portland put together a 20-7 run to close within four, and still had a seven-point lead when Markieff Morris was called for a flagrant foul with 1:32 to play.
 
Nurkick hit one of two free throws and then McCollum hit a 3-pointer, a runner, and then a long fadeaway 2 over Porter to give the Blazers a 106-105 lead with 21 seconds left.
 
Pat Connaughton added two free throws with 2.6 seconds left.
 
WALL-KING GINGERLY
 
Wall, 27, received platelet-rich plasma and viscosupplementation injections earlier Saturday in the hope of reducing the inflammation in his knee, and attended the game on crutches.
 
A team statement said the injury occurred when Wall made knee-to-knee contact with another player during a Nov. 7 loss to Dallas. Wall had previously said fluid on his knee built up after he received IV fluids to deal with illness and migraines before a win against Atlanta on Nov. 11.
 
TIP-INS
 
Trail Blazers: Coach Terry Stotts started Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic, Connaughton and Vonleh on back-to-back nights. They hadn’t started together before Friday. . McCollum had only two points at halftime, after he picked up his third personal foul with 8:05 left in the second quarter and sat the remainder of the half.
 
Wizards: Tim Frazier scored seven of his points in the first quarter before besting his previous season high of 10 with a jumper midway through the third. He finished with 11. . Washington received two technical fouls in the third quarter.
 
UP NEXT
 
Trail Blazers: Close a three-game East Coast trip at the New York Knicks on Monday.
 
Wizards: Visit Minnesota on Tuesday to continue a stretch of 10 of 12 games on the road.
 
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