“We’re all competitors here. Everybody wants to win, but we’re so focused on the process to get to winning,” interim coach Brian Keefe said. “… Our group has grown. Our group has gotten better, and we’re going to keep working on that for the remainder of the season.”
The shorthanded Wizards, playing without three players listed at 6-foot-10 or taller in Marvin Bagley III (right knee), Kyle Kuzma (right ankle) and Richaun Holmes (left toe), had no answer for Blazers center Deandre Ayton. Keefe employed 6-8 forward Anthony Gill and rookie center Tristan Vukcevic, playing in just his eighth career game, to combat the former No. 1 overall pick. The matchup went about as one might expect.
Ayton scored a season-high 34 points and added 13 rebounds for his third straight double-double. The Blazers (21-56) outrebounded Washington by 10.
Vukcevic did flash for the third straight game, scoring 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting. He added seven rebounds and was the only Wizards player to notch a positive plus-minus.
“These are great experiences for Tristan,” Keefe said. “He’s learning daily on these guys. I thought [it was] another good game for him tonight, continuing to grow and develop. So, pleased with his effort.”
The Wizards trailed by as many as 12 in the second half and by seven with a little more than six minutes remaining. A banked-in three-pointer from Jordan Poole, a cutting layup by Anthony Gill and a pair of free throws from Deni Avdija (team-high 22 points) tied it with four minutes left.
Washington then took a brief lead on a Vukcevic dunk but went down three with under two minutes to go after a Scoot Henderson steal and Kris Murray layup. Poole missed a pair of potential game-tying three-pointers. The Wizards went 5 for 33 from beyond the arc.
Henderson sealed the Wizards’ fate, hanging in the air to knock in a layup through a foul. The No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft scored 19 points and added seven assists.
The Wizards often turned to Avdija to initiate their offense. He notched another strong performance in a breakout offensive season, shooting 7 of 12 from the field and 8 of 8 from the line to go with 12 rebounds.
Avdija has earned an expanded offensive role in his fourth year and validated it with a similar jump in efficiency. He is averaging career bests in points, rebounds, assists, shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage but doing so on a team one loss away from holding the worst record in franchise history.
“You do what you can do to win the game and sometimes it just doesn’t happen. … I’m never going to play below 100 percent,” he said. “Obviously you don’t want to set negative records, but I mean, we’re going to try to win as many games as possible left on the season.”
Here’s what else to know about the Wizards’ loss:
Butler gets three-year deal
The Wizards signed Jared Butler, who was on a two-way contract, to a standard three-year deal, the team announced Friday. Financial terms were not announced. The team waived forward Isaiah Livers in a corresponding move.
Butler, 23, joined Washington in July and started the 2024 season with its G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. He made his Wizards debut Oct. 25.
“This is big for me because I was out the league after my rookie year,” Butler said postgame. “… I want to be like a cockroach. If a bomb goes off, I’m still crawling around. You still see me.”
A back injury to Tyus Jones, who hasn’t played since March 14,…
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