Bradley Bealâs career
Bradley Beal
After the Washington Wizards experienced a night they would rather forget   Bradley Beal  single-handedly provided new memories.
 Beal  turned a Tuesday night game against the Portland Trail Blazers into  his  personal masterpiece: driving the lane to attack the rim  using  his  body to shield off defenders and clearing space in the midrange and rising without hesitation from deep beyond the three-point arc. By the end   Beal  had crafted the finest scoring game of  his  career  helping the Wizards move past one of the worst moments in franchise history.
Throughout this night of redemption  the Wizards played with improved defense and showed bench depth inside Moda Center. But this one was mostly about  Beal   who scored 51 points while leading the Wizards (13-11) back into the light.
 Beal âs night will live in Portland lore as the most points ever scored by a visiting opponent  surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar  who scored 49 against the Blazers as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 17  1972.
 Beal  shed his protective glasses and put on his playmaker persona and  for the first time in five games  looked more like himself.
The absence of John Wall had forced  Beal  to find shots for teammates  but the role greatly affected  his  own play as  he  produced glaring negative plus-minus numbers in four of the five games without  his  starting point guard. But  Beal   who had worn glasses during the previous two games  returned to his shooting guard ways. He aggressively searched for his shot to the benefit of the teamâs offense while the rest of the starters remained in a shooting malaise. In by far his best game since Wall has been out of the lineup   Beal  made 21 of 37 shots  also career-high marks.
âI came into the game with the mind-set of being aggressive â  Beal  said. âStart to finish. Especially coming off the game [Sunday] night and the way I played the previous four or five games before that. I wasnât happy about that.
âTonight I was just playing freely â  Beal  said  âand having fun  ultimately. I kind of knew at halftime that it was going to be a good one but I didnât think it was going to be a 50 pointer.â
While  Beal  dominated the shots  and rightfully so  the remaining four starters made only 7 of 30 attempts from the field. But on this night  no one complained about shots. Teammates egged on  Beal  to go for 50 points â even before  he  had reached 40 â and following the game  they waited for  Beal  to enter the visitorsâ locker room before dousing  him  in a surprise water attack.
âBrad made history today â said center Marcin Gortat  who shadowed  Beal  throughout the game to create slivers of daylight for Bealâs jumpers. âI was glad I was able to contribute with a few screens  a few assists. We were witnessing history today.â
Although the third quarter proved to be more competitive with Portland outscoring Washington 29-28   Beal  remained unstoppable.  He  played the entire quarter and connected on 8 of 11 shots for 19 points while the rest of the team managed three field goals.
 Beal  remained on the floor at the start of the final quarter and soon eclipsed  his  previous career mark â swishing a shot from 27 feet . Though  Beal  faced several defenders  but never consistent double-teams   he  found success.
Just before the closing minute   he  dribbled around the perimeter before noticing lanky center Zach Collins standing in  his  way.  Beal  calmly pulled up and drained another three-pointer   his  fifth of the game. Then  with help from Oubre poking away his fifth steal   Beal  added the punctuation to  his  night with a breakaway two-handed slam in the final seconds.
âI was really upset with the way we played  especially with myself individually â  Beal  said of the loss in Utah. âI just came in with the mind-set today that I was going to be aggressive  not thinking about anything else but trying to get a win and playing my game.â
After the Washington Wizards experienced a night they would rather forget    [TGT] single-handedly provided new memories.
  [TGT] turned a Tuesday night game against the Portland Trail Blazers into   [TGT]   personal masterpiece: driving the lane to attack the rim  using   [TGT]   body to shield off defenders and clearing space in the midrange and rising without hesitation from deep beyond the three-point arc. By the end    [TGT] had crafted the finest scoring game of   [TGT]   career  helping the Wizards move past one of the worst moments in franchise history.
Throughout this night of redemption  the Wizards played with improved defense and showed bench depth inside Moda Center. But this one was mostly about  Beal   who scored 51 points while leading the Wizards (13-11) back into the light.
  [TGT]  âs night will live in Portland lore as the most points ever scored by a visiting opponent  surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar  who scored 49 against the Blazers as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 17  1972.
  [TGT] shed  [TGT]  protective glasses and put on  [TGT]  playmaker persona and  for the first time in five games  looked more like  [TGT] .
The absence of John Wall had forced  Beal  to find shots for teammates  but the role greatly affected   [TGT]   own play as   [TGT]   produced glaring negative plus-minus numbers in four of the five games without   [TGT]   starting point guard. But  Beal   who had worn glasses during the previous two games  returned to his shooting guard ways. He aggressively searched for his shot to the benefit of the teamâs offense while the rest of the starters remained in a shooting malaise. In by far his best game since Wall has been out of the lineup   Beal  made 21 of 37 shots  also career-high marks.
âI came into the game with the mind-set of being aggressive â  Beal  said. âStart to finish. Especially coming off the game [Sunday] night and the way I played the previous four or five games before that. I wasnât happy about that.
âTonight I was just playing freely â  Beal  said  âand having fun  ultimately. I kind of knew at halftime that it was going to be a good one but I didnât think it was going to be a 50 pointer.â
While  Beal  dominated the shots  and rightfully so  the remaining four starters made only 7 of 30 attempts from the field. But on this night  no one complained about shots. Teammates egged on  Beal  to go for 50 points â even before  he  had reached 40 â and following the game  they waited for  Beal  to enter the visitorsâ locker room before dousing  him  in a surprise water attack.
âBrad made history today â said center Marcin Gortat  who shadowed  Beal  throughout the game to create slivers of daylight for Bealâs jumpers. âI was glad I was able to contribute with a few screens  a few assists. We were witnessing history today.â
Although the third quarter proved to be more competitive with Portland outscoring Washington 29-28   Beal  remained unstoppable.  He  played the entire quarter and connected on 8 of 11 shots for 19 points while the rest of the team managed three field goals.
 Beal  remained on the floor at the start of the final quarter and soon eclipsed  his  previous career mark â swishing a shot from 27 feet . Though  Beal  faced several defenders  but never consistent double-teams   he  found success.
Just before the closing minute   he  dribbled around the perimeter before noticing lanky center Zach Collins standing in  his  way.  Beal  calmly pulled up and drained another three-pointer   his  fifth of the game. Then  with help from Oubre poking away his fifth steal   Beal  added the punctuation to  his  night with a breakaway two-handed slam in the final seconds.
âI was really upset with the way we played  especially with myself individually â  Beal  said of the loss in Utah. âI just came in with the mind-set today that I was going to be aggressive  not thinking about anything else but trying to get a win and playing my game.â