Blazers stumble along pushover pathway: ‘This one is hard’

Portland shot poorly and tied its season high with 25 turnovers, leaving coach Tiago Splitter to label it “a very poor game for us all around”

The Trail Blazers had been breezing through Tankers’ Row of late, mowing down the denizens of the NBA’s draft lottery as they made a climb up the Western Conference play-in list for the postseason. They expected Dallas — loser of five straight of 24 of its last 28 games — to be more of the same.

The Mavericks, however, had other ideas.

They jumped to an early lead, withstood a Portland rally and made the plays at the end to pull out a 100-93 victory Friday night at Moda Center.

Partisans of the announced crowd of 17,701 left the arena hushed and stunned. It was much the same with the coaches and players on the losing side.

“I am disappointed,” said Deni Avdija, Portland’s resident All-Star. “We should have won that game.”

Dallas (23-50) is one of the 10 teams that is out of the playoff picture and trying to position itself for a high draft selection. The Maverick players didn’t get the “Let’s Not Win” memo, though. They played hard and well enough to hand the Blazers (37-38) one of their most demoralizing defeats of the season.

To add injury to insult, Portland lost a pair of veterans — forward Jerami Grant and center Robert Williams III — to injuries in the second half.

“We lost Jerami and Rob, and the game, too,” Portland coach Tiago Splitter said. “It was a very poor game for us all around.”

The Blazers had won five of the last six games and reached .500 for the first time since Jan. 23.

“We all felt we were in a growing moment,” Splitter said solemnly. “This one is hard.”

Cooper Flagg, who is battling Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year consideration, scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half. And journeyman Marvin Bagley III, acquired from the Wizards in the Anthony Davis trade, came off the bench for 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting to go with nine rebounds for the Mavericks, who had dropped overtime games to the Clippers and Warriors and fallen 142-135 to Denver in their last three outings.

The Blazers shot poorly — .392 from the field, .267 from 3-point range and .697 from the free throw line — and matched their season high with 25 turnovers, which resulted in 33 Dallas points.

The Mavericks had scored 130 points or more in the last three games and four of the last six, averaging more than 126 points over that span.

“We started the game poorly, with not enough sense of urgency,” Splitter said. “We got better throughout the game. On defense, we followed the game plan. (The Mavericks) had been scoring 130 points against everyone and running the court. That’s the way they play — scoring at a high pace. We stopped them there.

“But offensively, we were very poor. We didn’t make shots, turned the ball over.”

After falling behind 50-34 midway through the second quarter, Portland ended the half on a 17-6 run to go into the break trailing 56-51. The Blazers went ahead at 66-64 four minutes into the third quarter, but the Mavericks quickly regained the lead and were in front 92-85 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Portland responded with a 7-0 spurt, capped by Jrue Holiday’s corner 3 that made it 92-92 with 2:25 to go, and it looked like the Mavericks might fold. Instead, they outscored the hosts 8-1 the rest of the way.

“It was a little muddy out there from the beginning of the game,” Grant added. “We weren’t as consistent as we should be, playing teams like this.”

Avdija collected 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists but also had five turnovers. Holiday scored a team-high 23 points but made only 8 of 19 shots from the field, including 3 of 9 from 3-point territory. Donovan Clingan had been on a roll of late, averaging 16.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots over the last eight games while shooting .543 from the field, .370 from beyond the arc and .828 from the foul line.The second-year center grabbed 17 rebounds Friday but scored only six points on 2-for-9 shooting and turned the ball over five times.

The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.

“Late in the game, we were there,” Avdija said. “We had a couple of shots we missed. Defensively, we were sharp enough. The turnovers — I will take some responsibility for that, how I played the game.”

Avdija was asked about the mood of the Portland players in the locker room afterward.

“Not great,” he said. “But that is what happens when you expect to win a game that was very important for us against a team that had nothing to lose. We just lost that game. It’s unfortunate.”

The Blazers, who came into the game as healthy as they have been all season, lost Grant (calf) and Smith (back) in the third quarter.

“Rob fell on his lower back and Jerami felt a pop in his calf,” Splitter said.

The level of his concern for the health of the duo?

“One hundred percent,” Splitter said.

“Just trying to take off, I felt a little something,” said Grant, who has already missed 19 games this season. “We will get it checked out (Saturday). I can put a little pressure on it. Hopefully, it’s not too bad. Shouldn’t be too crazy.”

Williams, who backs up Clingan but often sits out the second of back-to-back games, has been sidelined for 23 games this season but has been a key contributor off the bench, rebounding, defending and dunking. Grant is the team’s starting small forward and, behind Avdija, Portland’s best creator on moves to the basket.

“They are both very important for us,” Avdija said. “They are a big part of our team. They are great players. I hope they are OK. I hope they come back fast, because we need those guys on the court, for sure.”

Friday’s league-wide results could not have been worse for the Blazers, who are battling with the Clippers and Golden State for the eighth through 10th spots in the West and even had an outside shot at catching sliding Phoenix for seventh. Besides the Portland loss, the Clippers edged Indiana 114-113 and the Warriors nipped Washington 131-126.

The Clippers’ win was a classic. Kawhi Leonard drilled a pull-up jumper with .4 of a second remaining to give them a 114-113 lead. On the Pacers’ in-bound pass, Andrew Nembhard threw the ball toward the basket, hoping for a tip-in, but the ball banked in, resulting in a turnover.

The Pacers immediately fouled the Clippers’ Bennedict Mathurin, who missed the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. Indiana’s Pascal Siakam rebounded and called time with .1 of a second left.

As Nembhard again threw an in-bound pass toward the basket, LA’s Brook Lopez was called for a loose-ball foul that put Indiana center Jay Huff at the foul line with a chance to win the game.

But Huff, shooting .837 from the line this season, was long on both attempts, and the Clippers survived.

Whether Huff was directed, or influenced, to miss is a topic for another story. No matter, it was bad luck for Portland, which now stands in ninth place, a game and a half behind the Clippers (38-36) and only a half-game ahead of the Warriors (36-38) as they head into the final two weeks of the regular season.

The Blazers are guaranteed to make the play-in round, which gives them an opportunity to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They would love to finish in seventh place in the West, which would allow them to play host to the eighth seed with a chance to wrap up the No. 7 playoff seed with a win. The eighth-place team would get the No. 7 seed by winning the 7-8 game on the road. Meanwhile, the ninth-place team hosts the 10th-place team, with the loser eliminated. The 7-8 loser then plays the 9-10 winner for the eighth playoff seed.

Portland’s remaining seven games include home dates with three of the league’s have-nots — Sunday against Washington, plus games with New Orleans and Sacramento. The Wizards have lost 17 of 18. The Pelicans have lost four in a row but won three straight before that, including back-to-back victories over the Clippers. The Kings are 7-25 since Jan. 16.

For Portland, there also remains a home-and-home series with the Clippers and road games against Denver and San Antonio, which are both playing meaningful contests as they jockey for position in the West standings.

It would make sense that the Blazers will go 4-3 in their remaining contests, sweeping the tankers at home, splitting with the Clippers and losing the Nuggets and Spurs to finish the season at 41-41. But it made perfect sense that they would take care of the Mavericks, too.

“It’s tough,” Grant said. “It’s still the NBA, though. Regardless if you think you should beat a team or not, everybody is liable to get a win. We just have to come ready to play for the rest of these games.”

The Blazers gave one away Friday night. They can’t afford to do that again.

“We have to lock in,” Avdija said. “Every game matters right now. We are trying to make a run. I believe in our team. I believe in our talent. We have what it takes. But we have to sharpen it up and figure it out. Nobody feels sorry for us now.”

He paused, and smiled.

“We will get better, like we always do,” Avdija said. “I am not worried about that.”

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