Trail Blazers edge Washington Wizards, move to 2-1 in summer league play

The Portland Trail Blazers moved to 2-1 in summer league play with an 82-80 victory Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Blazers rookie center Donovan Clingan, selected seventh overall in last month’s NBA draft, easily won the head-to-head matchup against Washington forward/center Alexandre Sarr, the No. 2 pick in the draft.

Clingan scored eight points with 13 rebounds, five blocked shots, and two assists, while Sarr went scoreless in 29 minutes but did have nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots.

Clingan shot 3 of 10 from the field compared to Sarr, who went 0 of 15 from the floor and 0 of 7 from three-point range. Clingan made 1 of 2 three-point attempts.

The Blazers shot just 34.8% from the field and 30% on three-point shots (9 of 30). Portland committed 16 turnovers, which the Wizards turned into 19 points.

But the Blazers compensated for their poor shooting and sloppy play by getting to the foul line, where they made 25 of 32 (78.1%) free throws compared to 14 of 22 for the Wizards (63.6%).

Forward Ryan Rupert scored 16 points for the Blazers on 5-of-11 shooting. Guard Bryce McGowens came off the bench to score 19 points. He went 1 of 6 from beyond the arc but made 10 of 11 free throws.

Rupert did his best work in the third quarter when he scored eight points and the Blazers took a 66-60 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Blazers struggled to generate offense in the final quarter, producing just 16 points while committing eight turnovers that led to 10 points for the Wizards.

But the Blazers did just enough on defense to hold on by limiting Washington to 27.3% shooting from the field.

Carlton Carrington led the Wizards with 20 points.

WHAT IT MEANS

At the end of the game, the Blazers were one of 14 teams at 2-1 or better, with eight teams sitting at 2-0. At the end of the session, the top four teams qualified for the four-team playoffs.

The Blazers will need a lot of help and must blowout Charlotte (2-0) on Friday night to improve their point differential, which is minus -2.0

CLINGAN THROUGH THREE GAMES

The center out of Connecticut has not been sharp offensively but overall has been productive.

Clingan has averaged 6.7 points per game on 8-of-29 shooting (27.5%) while also going 1 of 6 from beyond the arc (16.7%).

However, he has grabbed 37 rebounds (12.3 per game) and blocked 13 shots (4.3).

NEXT UP

The Blazers have two nights off before playing the Charlotte Hornets at 8 p.m., Friday at Cox Pavilion. That game will air on ESPN2.

-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)