Trail Blazers collapse, lose to Mavericks 111-101 in OT
79. Final. 101. 34. 111
The Portland Trail Blazers played 45 minutes of good basketball, outscoring the Dallas Mavericks in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarters. Unfortunately, Portland collapsed late, and Dallas walked off their home court with the 111-101 win in overtime. The Trail Blazers have to purge this from their memories before tomorrow’s game in Houston.
Recap
The first three-plus quarters of this game were fantastic. Both teams were playing hard, both teams were active, and it was clear that neither wanted to cede an inch to the other. The Trail Blazers, venturing out in transition for the second game in a row and playing swarming defense, got the better of the Mavs almost the whole way. Robin Lopez was getting offensive rebounds aplenty, Damian Lillard rediscovered his three-point stroke, and Wesley Matthews was pretty much everywhere, getting steals, boards, and buckets.
With two minutes left, the Trail Blazers were up 11, ready to take their first road win against a quality opponent in a dog’s age. Then Devin Harris hit a three. Up eight and with no need to rush, Matthews tried to take it straight into Tyson Chandler instead of draining clock, which led to a Chandler Parsons three on the other end.
As happened many times in the fourth quarter, Dirk Nowitzki found himself matched up against a Trail Blazers guard after a switch– this time Lillard, and Nowitzki licked his chops and scored. As the Trail Blazers were pressured, Lillard was forced into a bad pass that gave Dallas an easy layup, and Aldridge was pressured to cough the ball up to Lillard for a contested triple that rimmed off.
With the help of an offensive rebound, the Mavericks found that the Trail Blazers had forgotten about Nowitzki, and Dallas said, “huh, okay” and Dirk hit a three. Tie game. Lillard’s attempted three to win the game was off. Overtime.
And the Mavericks onslaught continued. It wasn’t pretty.
When the punches stopped, the Blazers had allowed a 29-9 run and were outscored 41-18 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Dallas won, 111-101.
Thoughts
Feb 7, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler (6) defends against Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Trail Blazers 111-101 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of little mistakes, all at once, as the other team was surging… it was a perfect storm that you don’t see too often in professional basketball. When you’re the one cruising, it’s a sports high unlike anything else in basketball. When you’re the one being crushed, it’s truly awful. It’s tough to think what the players and coaches are thinking about, talking about, and feeling right now. The hope is that the Trail Blazers can move forward… they have a game in another city in, like, 18 hours.
The Trail Blazers have to leave enough in the tank emotionally and physically to play hard defense all the way to the end. The offense can crap out and you can skate along, but if your defense fails, you’re in trouble.
Having said that, the Trail Blazers’ effort throughout most of this game was excellent. One wonders if their tendency to play better near the end of the game hasn’t worked the muscles needed to play that way early, and if they got tired.
Players
LaMarcus Aldridge was leaned on heavily by his team, and the defense leaned just as hard. Chandler is still motivated and agile enough to be a nightmare presence, especially the lower you get on the block. Aldridge can usually get off any shot he wants, whether or not they go in. Tonight, there were times when he couldn’t do what he wanted.
Damian Lillard must have found his three-point shooting hiding in the back of the cupboard, but he brought it with him tonight. He had 26-7-7 with four steals and two blocks, and 4-10 shooting from range. He missed some big shots late, but that happens.
Wesley Matthews led the “smart, engaged, tough” defense that characterized the first 40+ minutes of the game for the Trail Blazers. The box score reflected that effort, 17-8-3 with four steals. Unfortunately, his most memorable move of the night might have been his worst, as he rushed a layin against Chandler instead of burning clock, up eight points, with 1:50 left. Next time he’ll slow it down.
Nicolas Batum was 0-8, but had 10 boards and 4 dimes… but his woeful coverage of Dirk, leaving him wide open to tie the game late in the fourth… that’s tough, and it reminds one somewhat of leaving Kyrie Irving tons of space at the arc when he hit the three that sank the Trail Blazers in Cleveland. Just bad awareness.
Robin Lopez is this team’s best friend. He only had four and five with a block, but there were lots of times when he was whistled for things that, in another game, would have been alright. A tangent: the officiating was questionable for both teams, but the lack of replays on iffy calls was, for once, disappointing. Just had to throw that out there, but in no way did it decide the outcome: that was Portland’s fault.
The bench looked better on paper than to the eye. Chris Kaman got some rebounds, C.J. McCollum continues to trust his shot, and Meyers Leonard looked pretty good… but Terry Stotts was forced to bring Aldridge back in early in the fourth when he would have preferred to give him more rest. Other things like that make it hard to completely trust your subs.
What’s next?
The Trail Blazers fly directly to Houston to face the Dwight Howard-less Rockets at 4:00 p.m. PST for the second half of this back-to-back.