WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Terry Stotts strolled out of the visiting locker room at Capital One Arena Saturday, he sported a signed basketball under his arm and a sheepish grin on his face.

The Portland Trail Blazers had just earned an improbable and inspiring 108-105 victory over the Washington Wizards, overcoming a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit and a recent run of late-game misery to record what has to be the win of the season.

And for Stotts -- who celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday and was given a signed game ball from the team as a memento -- it will be a win he won't soon forget.

"The ball is nice," Stotts said, "but the win was great. And it's not about my birthday. That was a big-time win. To come in here down 17 and not quit and find a way and make big plays at both ends. We needed one of those."

The Blazers (12-8) moved a season-best four games over .500 and improved to 3-1 on their five-game trip in resilient fashion, stunning the Wizards (10-9) with a barrage of clutch late-game plays on both ends. Jusuf Nurkic started the rally with three emphatic blocks at the rim, Damigood an Lillard kept the Blazers within striking distance with a mix of scoring and playmaking and CJ McCollum capped the comeback with a late scoring burst that featured a stone-cold step-back baseline jumper that proved to be the game-winner.

McCollum was electric during the comeback, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter, including seven in a row in the final 90 seconds. He hit a clutch three-pointer with 1:30 left to bring the Blazers' within 105-102, converted a tough driving layup 33 seconds later to inch the Blazers within a point, then hit the game-winner in style.

McCollum took a handoff from Nurkic on the perimeter and wiggled toward the baseline, prompting Wizards center Marcin Gortat to switch off Nurkic and defend McCollum. He originally wanted to hoist a three from the corner, but couldn't shake the 6-foot-11 big man, so McCollum worked the other way, allowing the Wizards to regroup and shift Otto Porter back to him on defense. In a one-on-one situation with the game on the line, McCollum rocked side-to-side and dribbled hard to the right, creating just enough space to step back, rise up and fire a tough 20-footer over the outstretched arms of Porter.

It splashed through the net with 20.7 seconds left, giving the Blazers a 106-105 lead.

"I wanted to take a three," McCollum said. "It's a good percentage shot for me off the dribble. So I was looking at taking a three and they switched back. So I kind of just walked (Porter) back and once I felt him lean a little bit, I just went into the step-back."

Added Lillard: "He got the ball and did what he does. He's a pure, pure scorer. Sometimes, great defense is not good enough."

Over the final 20 seconds, Bradley Beal missed a pair of contested three pointers and Pat Connaughton made a pair of free throws and the Blazers walked away with a wild win. Lillard finished with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists, Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks and McCollum added 26 points and the shot of the night.

Along the way, a host of Blazers did just enough to help the comeback. Connaughton, who started at small forward for the second consecutive game, played commendable defense on Beal and did a little bit of everything, recording 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Noah Vonleh had eight points and 10 rebounds. And Ed Davis added a gritty eight points, six rebounds and one block, while keeping the Blazers close with multiple big plays in the first half.

The game very much adhered to the old basketball cliche about runs -- it was indeed a game of runs -- and each team used sweeping scoring bursts to momentarily snatch momentum throughout. The Blazers just happened to have the last eruption, outscoring the Wizards 18-4 over the final 4:32. They trailed by 17 with 8:14 left and by double digits with 4:32 remaining, but never panicked.

"You've just got to keep fighting," Lillard said. "Our minds were strong. We never wavered. We never said, 'All right, this is over.' We just kept coming, we kept playing hard, we kept just having that faith."

And there's no telling how much faith this victory can infuse in a team that spent the better part of the first month of the season fumbling away winnable games with late-game clumsiness. They improved to 3-5 in games decided by four points or less, with two of the victories -- including Friday's 127-125 win over the Brooklyn Nets -- coming over the last two days. Finally, after so many frustrating nail-biters, the Blazers seem to be steeling their resolve.

"Anytime you win a game like this, it's definitely a momentum-shifter," Moe Harkless said. "And to come in here and do what we did (Saturday) on the road is especially, I think, big time. I think we can take this energy and carry it over."

One thing that was certainly carried away from Capital One Arena on Saturday: A signed game ball.

The entire team, including players, assistant coaches and support staff, inscribed a birthday wish and Lillard presented it to Stotts in the locker room following the emotional win, saying simply, "Happy birthday."

"Everybody don't live to see 60," Lillard said, smirking, when asked why the team offered the gift. "We wanted to wish him a happy, happy birthday and have everybody sign it and say something nice. I think one thing about our coach is, we play for a great coach, but we know that we play for an even better person. I wouldn't rather play for any other coach. I hope he's happy with the effort tonight. We got a crazy win for him."

It was the 350th victory of Stotts' 10-year coaching career -- 235 of which have come in Portland -- and it no doubt was one of his sweetest.

"Everybody knows it's my birthday," Stotts said, "so I've been getting birthday wishes all day. The players have been great. The staff. Everybody. But them giving me the ball was just icing on the cake."

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman