Portland Trail Blazers' Anfernee Simons Lights Up Washington Wizards in Win

The Portland Trail Blazers topped the Washington Wizards 124-116 on Friday night, and an incredibly hot shooting night from guard Anfernee Simons had a huge part in it. The fifth-year player hit 11 of 19 field goal attempts, including a scintillating nine of twelve from three.

cANT stop him pic.twitter.com/EEI4lVyyqN
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 4, 2023

Simons' nine made three-pointers tied a personal best. All in all, he finished the night with 33 points, five rebounds, and six assists. It was his 10th 30+ point game of the season.

Simons appears to be in the midst of a breakout season for the Blazers. The 23-year-old is averaging career highs in points per game (21.9), true shooting percentage (.593), and assists per game (4.1). If he can continue to progress, he could eventually find his way to an All Star team.

With last night's win, the Blazers move to 26-26 and are now ninth in the Western Conference. They still have a chance of fighting their way to a top-six seed and skipping the play-in tournament; they've won five of their last six, and team leader Damian Lillard is averaging a preposterous 38.3 ppg over his last 12 starts. The Blazers sit only two games behind the current sixth seed, the Phoenix Suns.

The Blazers face the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night in the second game of a back-to-back.