----- Damian Lillard scored 40 points and Jusuf Nurkic came two assists shy of a triple-double as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Washington Wizards 119-109 Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena.
Portland got back to playing Trail Blazers basketball on Sunday and it resulted in a dominating 119-109 win over the Washington Wizards.
The Blazers tied a season-high with 26 assists including a seven-pass possession in the first half that resulted in a wide-open three-pointer for Jake Layman.
Terry Stotts was so pleased with the possession that he replayed it to his team at halftime.
''There's not a basketball person out there that wouldn't appreciate - and then you've got to make the shot with the shot clock run down,'' Stotts said. ''But that's, that was pretty.''
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 40 points and CJ McCollum added 25 points and seven rebounds.
''That's perfect Blazer basketball. We need more possessions like that,'' Lillard said of the Layman shot that gave Portland a 17-point lead.
Evan Turner was equally impressed with the possession replayed by Coach Stotts at halftime saying, ''Hopefully that ends up on some basketball highlight because we went from a good shot, good shot, good opportunity to a great-purpose shot in a full 24 seconds.''
Jusuf Nurkic continued his solid play with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists.
The Blazers defense showed improvement on defense after back to back poor outings against the Lakers and Timberwolves. Portland held Washington to just 44.8% shooting and won the rebounding battle (52-43).
Portland (11-5) now holds the top spot in the West with their win over Washington coupled with the Warriors 104-92 loss at San Antonio.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will travel to New York to meet the Knicks on Tuesday. Game is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 PM.
Chad's Take- The only disappointing thing to come out of this win was Jusuf Nurkic coming two assists shy of a triple-double. Would have been the first one for the team since Nic Batum accomplished the feat four-years ago.