Blazers continue eastern swing in Washington

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers go for a fourth straight win when they take on the Washington Wizards Monday at the Verizon Center.

The Blazers have won eight of their last nine games and opened a five-game eastern sojourn with Sunday's 113-97 triumph over the Toronto Raptors.

LaMarcus Aldridge recorded 24 points and 10 rebounds, Damian Lillard scored 23 points and Arron Afflalo added 14 for the Blazers, who scored 64 points in the first half (64-53) and shot 52.3 percent from the field. Lillard made 10-of-20 shots and Afflalo hit on 4-of-6 3-pointers.

Nicolas Batum had a game-high 12 assists and scored 10 points.

Portland is third in the West, just a game out of the No. 2 spot.

"We're peaking at the right time," Aldridge said. "You want to peak toward the end of the season and right now we're peaking at the right time."

Aldridge has 33 double-doubles on the season.

The Trail Blazers, who are 34-6 when scoring 100 or more points and 9-4 in the second game of a back-to-back, will also visit Miami, Orlando and Memphis on the trip, and are 16-14 on the road.

Washington looks to close out a perfect three-game homestand Monday and is riding a four-game winning streak in DC.

The Wizards won for the fifth time in seven tries with Saturday's 113-97 victory over the Sacramento Kings, as John Wall poured in 31 points and handed out 12 assists to lead the way. Paul Pierce scored 17 points and both Bradley Beal and Rasual Butler notched 14.

The Wizards improved to 18-1 on the season when shooting better than 50 percent from the floor after making 53.1 percent on Saturday.

"The most important thing is the W," said Wizards coach Randy Wittman.

Washington is 24-10 at the Verizon Center and fifth in the East, one game out of the third and fourth spots in the conference.

After hosting the Blazers, the Wizards will play the next four games on the road against Utah, LA Clippers, Sacramento and Golden State.

Wizards forward Nene (personal) is questionable Monday and is posting an average of 11.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. Nene has missed the last two games.

Portland defeated Washington, 103-96, on Jan. 24 in Rip City and was led by Aldridge's 26 points and nine rebounds. Wall recorded 25 points in that one for the Wizards, who have lost two in a row in this series after winning three straight.

Washington is 4-1 in the last five meetings with Portland in DC.