Shaedon Sharpe’s eye-popping dunk caps a career night as the Trail Blazers beat the Wizards 129-121
WASHINGTON — — Shaedon Sharpe threw down a vicious one-handed slam that was immediately hailed as one of the best dunks of the season, part of a career-best 36-point performance that carried the Portland Trail Blazers to a 129-121 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Sharpe shot 13 of 26 from the floor and and converted all four of his free throws inside the final minute as the Trail Blazers maintained a lead of at least three throughout the fourth quarter.
Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson each added 16 points for Portland, which began the night 4 1/2 games back of Sacramento for the the Western Conference’s final play-in spot.
Jordan Poole scored 24 points for NBA-worst Washington, which was attempting to win back-to-back games for the first time since winning three in a row to begin the month. Richaun Holmes added a career-high 20 points and Corey Kispeprt also scored 20.
Takeaways
Trail Blazers: Former Wizards forward Deni Avdija left the game with a left quadriceps injury after playing only six minutes of the first quarter. He scored five points, having entered averaging 14.8 this season.
Wizards: Holmes rewarded coach Brian Keefe for his seventh February start with one of his best performances. He finished 7 of 7 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the foul line.
Key moment
Sharpe’s second-quarter tomahawk slam will be a lasting memory for those in the building. He swiped Justin Champagnie’s pass just beyond the 3-point line, took one dribble, then soared above the contesting Champagnie, pulled the ball back above his head and flushed it through the rim with such force he tumbled to the ground.
Key stat
The Trail Blazers led 101-83 in field goal attempts, and 57-41 before halftime.
Up next
Trail Blazers: At Brooklyn on Friday.
Wizards: At Charlotte on Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
DETROIT — Malik Beasley scored 26 points, Cade Cunningham had 21 points and 11 assists and the Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 117-97 on Wednesday night in a matchup of two of the NBA’s hottest teams.
The Pistons (33-26) won their eighth straight and ended a 12-game losing streak against Boston, two nights after stopping a 10-game skid against the LA Clippers.
Detroit’s eight-game run is tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the longest active streak in the NBA. The Pistons have won eight consecutive contests in a season for the first time since a 10-game streak from Jan. 23 to Feb. 13, 2008.
Boston (42-17) had won six straight and 10 of 11. The Celtics’ 20-point loss was their second largest of the season, only one point shy of their largest.
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points for Boston, and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard each had 18. Tatum, White and Pritchard combined to shoot 14-of-22 from the floor in the first half, going 11-of-15 on 3-pointers.
It was the Celtics’ 19th game this season with 20 or more made 3-pointers, tied with the 2022-23 Golden State Warriors for the most in a season in NBA history. Boston entered the day 17-1 in games in which it made 20-plus 3-pointers this season and 32-1 over the past two seasons.
Jalen Duren added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Detroit. The Pistons had a 49-33 rebounding edge.
The Pistons led 90-79 going into the fourth, then scored the first eight points of the quarter to take a 19-point advantage.
Boston’s winning streak against the Pistons dated to Feb. 16, 2022. It was its longest active streak against any opponent and tied the third-longest active win streak against a single opponent in the NBA.
Tied at 55 at halftime, Detroit took control by outscoring the Celtics 35-24 in the third quarter.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Luka reflects on managing emotions during the Mavs matchup and looks ahead to the next challenge. (1:03)
LOS ANGELES — After Luka Doncic led the Lakers to a 107-99 win over his former team Tuesday — becoming only the third player to record a triple-double against every NBA franchise in the process — the star guard’s tone during his postgame news conference wasn’t triumphant.
No, Doncic sounded more relieved than anything.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” he said of the game coming only 3½ weeks after he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers. “I can’t even explain [it]. It was a different game. … Sometimes I don’t know what I was doing.
“And I’m just glad it’s over, honestly.”
Doncic, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to join teammate LeBron James and Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook as the only players to put up a triple-double against all 30 teams, didn’t dominate Dallas. He shot 6-for-17 from the field (1-for-7 from 3), and it was James who scored 16 of his 27 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
But Doncic got through a night that had been looming since Dallas traded him, an emotional hurdle as he processed being around not only his former teammates, with whom he has maintained friendships, but also the Mavericks’ brass in general manager Nico Harrison and coach Jason Kidd.
“It definitely will help me,” Doncic said of putting the game behind him. “It’s definitely going to help in the long [run].”
Harrison stood on the sideline at midcourt during pregame warmups, although Doncic said he didn’t notice him.
He certainly saw the Mavericks’ bench, directing several shouts and stare-downs after making plays for his new team.
“Obviously there’s a lot of emotion that goes in when you give so much to a franchise and you sacrifice for a franchise and you have that type of love and respect for a franchise — throughout all the journeys,” James said of Doncic. “They went to the Finals, all that stuff. He’s grown from being an 18-, 19-year-old kid to now a 25-year-old man with a family. … And when you move on or they move on from you, it’s very emotional, obviously. It’s very taxing.
“It’s probably a lot of things that were going on in his head that probably didn’t even involve the game itself. And with that said, I thought he handled it tremendously.”
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, who led all scorers with 35 points, said the matchup was “awkward as s—” after facing off against the same player he teamed with to take Dallas to the Finals last season.
“But,” Irving added, “at the same time, it was fun. We got a chance to feel like we were in practice all over again going at each other. That was a good reflection point. And then just seeing the crowd cheer for him and just get him going … it was fun competing.”
Doncic called Irving his “hermano” and said their relationship goes “way beyond basketball.”
The teams will play again in Dallas on April 9. Returning to his former home will bring different challenges for Doncic, emotional and otherwise. The Mavericks are hoping Anthony Davis, sent from Los Angeles to Dallas in the deal, will have recovered from the left adductor strain he sustained after the trade and can play.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said there was no use avoiding the circumstances the schedule presents. As strange as Tuesday was for Doncic, the Lakers players had to deal with the conflicting emotions of seeing Davis back in the building and receiving a standing ovation in the first quarter when Los Angeles played a tribute video for him and then striving to send him away with a loss. The same went for having to match up with Max Christie, also part of the trade. He had 10 points and six assists for Dallas and played with the same effort and athleticism that used to be on the Lakers’ side.
“You kind of just got to embrace it,” Redick said. “It’s just a little weird. It just naturally is. … It’s healthy, actually, just to acknowledge it and embrace it. And then you play the game, and then you never have to do that again.”
Or at least the next time Doncic and the Lakers must play the Mavericks, they will have had more time to establish a new normal.
“The closure is going to take a while, I think,” Doncic said. “It’s not ideal. But like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. But we go little by little, and every day is better.”
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.
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Shaedon Sharpe pulled out a ridiculous poster on Wednesday night in Washington.
Sharpe, in the second quarter of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 129-121 win over the Wizards at Capital One Arena, easily intercepted an outlet pass near midcourt. He had a clear path to the basket, and immediately took full advantage.
Sharpe dribbled once, rose up and absolutely hammered a wild one-handed dunk over Justin Champagnie. He threw it down so hard it sent him crashing down to his back. Just watch:
chat.. did we just witness the greatest dunk in the history of the universe pic.twitter.com/5a9WdltCrt
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 27, 2025
Though it’s only February, Sharpe immediately entered Dunk of the Year territory with that slam. The rest of the Blazers seemed so stunned by the dunk, too, that they left Tristan Vukčević completely wide open for a 3-pointer on the other end — though his shot was well off the mark.
Sharpe entered Wednesday’s game averaging a career-high 16.9 points and 3.7 rebounds for the Trail Blazers this season, his third in the league. Portland selected him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 draft.
The 21-year-old had a team-high 36 points and eight rebounds off the bench in the win for Portland, which pushed them to 26-33 on the season. Anfernee Simons added 16 points, and Scoot Henderson finished with 16 points off the bench. The Trail Blazers have now won three straight, and sit four games back from the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 24 points and five rebounds. Richaun Holmes added 20 points, and Corey Kispert finished with 20 points off the bench. Champagnie didn’t score, but had five rebounds in the loss. Washington now sits at 10-48 on the season, which is the worst record in the league.
Much has been made about the role Luka Dončić’s conditioning allegedly played in the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers before the NBA trade deadline.
So when video of Dončić getting in some pregame push-ups in full view of the Dallas Mavericks went viral, some jumped to conclusions about the new Lakers star’s intentions. In reality, the push-ups were a punishment for missing a half-court shot, per Arash Markazi.
Luka misses a half court shot pregame a d has to do pushups and finishes with a dunk. pic.twitter.com/r8F9cRQhvn
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 26, 2025
That’s how heightened the scrutiny has become over the trade, as Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has faced intense backlash from Dallas fans over the move. The Mavericks reportedly increased security after Harrison received death threats and “Fire Nico” chants were rampant.
During Tuesday night’s 107-99 Lakers win over the Mavs, fans inside Crypto.com Arena chanted, “Thank you, Nico!” as Dončić posted his first triple-double as a Laker (19 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists).
Lakers fans chant “Thank you, Nico!” pic.twitter.com/SG5wFyA1Xn
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 26, 2025
Harrison got it from all sides on Tuesday night, with some Mavs fans in attendance making their opinions known before the game.
Check out these Mavs fans right behind Nico Harrison@FOX4 #mffl pic.twitter.com/ntnZwACioJ
— Jeff Kolb (@JeffKolbFOX4) February 26, 2025
After the game, Dončić was measured in response to questions about what it was like to play his old team for the first time, though he clearly was amped to perform — he stared down the Mavericks bench after making his one and only 3-pointer of the game.
“The closure is going to take awhile, I think,” Dončić said after the game. “I don’t know, it’s just not ideal. Like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotions. It will go, little by little. Every day is better.”
Time may heal all wounds, but the saga will surely ratchet up again when the Lakers travel to Dallas on April 9 for one of their final regular-season games.
Sharpe and Portland held on to grab a 129-121 win over the Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington
Blazers Survive Ugly Game in Washington
FILED UNDER:
Blazers-Wizards lives down to its billing.
The Portland Trail Blazers played the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night because, well, somebody had to. The game wasn’t pretty. Both teams committed turnovers and tossed up threes. 68 combined free throw attempts contributed to the ambiance. There was no smoke, but when the noise of the sad trombone cleared, Portland had earned a 129-121 victory. Shaedon Sharpe scored a career-high 36 points in the process. Deni Avdija played only 6 minutes before exiting the game with a calf injury.
Here are some of the factors that determined the outcome.
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The Washington Wizards are as bad as advertised. Worse, in fact. Half of their offense consists of launching deep threes, as if they were pulling the old playground trick of backing up until the defender no longer bothered to cover them. Their defense is nigh unspeakable. It starts with leaving the opponent wide open at the arc. It finishes by not protecting the rim either. Generating occasional turnovers and run-outs appears to be the only way they can manage decent offensive attempts. It’s barely basketball.
The Blazers played down to their opponent for most of the night. They had to stoop pretty low, too. They allowed the Wizards to shoot 51.8% from the field, prevailing only because they outshot Washington 101 attempts to 83. The positive spin is that they outhustled the opponent. Let’s leave it at that.
One of the ways in which the Blazers managed to excel: dominating on the offensive glass. Portland grabbed 17 offensive rebounds for 21 second-chance points. The Wizards conjured up only 7 offensive boards for 6 total points. Portland’s offense wasn’t great, but two attempts are better than one.
Both teams tried to capitalize on opponent mistakes but Portland won that battle too. Washington committed 19 turnovers, leading to 27 Portland points. The Blazers committed 17 for 19 in return. And that’s how you win a game where you shot 7 percentage points lower than your opponent.
As mentioned above, Washington’s defense was subpar. The Blazers got as many open looks at the three-point arc in this game as they usually get in a week. They made only 12 of 37 though. They hit some timely ones, but egad, it did not look great.
At least one Blazers player came ready for the game. Shaedon Sharpe scored 12 in the first period on his way to his career high, including this nasty dunk. The Washington crowd will not soon forget that.
People wondering why Donovan Clingan doesn’t get more consistent playing time need look no farther than this game for a partial answer. The field was wide open for the rookie with both Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III injured and in street clothes. Clingan did just fine for the minutes he was in, but Washington doesn’t offer a strong center corps. Instead they go smaller and towards the perimeter. That caused Clingan to move in and out. When he’s on the move, he tends to foul. He picked up 5 fouls in just 18 minutes of play with a couple more possible whistles un-called.
That said, without Clingan the Blazers had all the rim protection of a cup of stale yogurt. They definitely need their big man to stay in the game longer. It’s just a matter of time.
The transformation of Scoot Henderson’s three-point shot continues unabated. Henderson hit three triples in the decisive third period when the Blazers began to pull away from their hosts, finishing the game 4-7 behind the arc. Henderson’s release is far more consistent, hesitation non-existent. It’s a big development for the young guard.
Boxscore
The Blazers take on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday at 4:30 PM, Pacific.
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