Trail Blazers begin Texas trip with loss to Mavericks, 115-109

Portland Trail Blazers Al-Farouq Aminu (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Portland Trail Blazers Al-Farouq Aminu (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Trail Blazers lost to the woeful Mavericks in Dallas Tuesday. Portland displayed none of the traits that led them to 48 wins; both strong defense and accurate three-point shooting were AWOL.

Blazers First Half

The Blazers (48-30) started their final road trip of the season with a loss to the woeful Dallas Mavericks, 115-109.

It didn’t start off all that great, either — a sign of things to come, perhaps.

On the Blazers’ first offensive play, Jusuf Nurkic lost the ball trying to maneuver to the basket inside a crowded key. And the team started off shooting 1/7 from the floor.

But because Portland was playing the Dallas Mavericks (24-54) and their terrible offense, they didn’t fall too far behind.

In fact, after about five minutes of awful offense from both squads, the score was tied at seven.

And — first possession aside — Nurk was dominant in the first quarter, scoring eight points (4/4 shooting) and grabbing five rebounds.

Meyers Leonard and Caleb Swanigan got early playing time again with Ed Davis and Maurice Harkless out with injuries.

The Mavs went on a 13-0 (starting at the end of the first quarter) run to take a 31-22 lead early in the second. But the Blazers’ second team brought them back to within one, 33-32 with 8:12 left in the half.

J.J Barea kept the Mavericks in it — not to mention some defensive lapses that left the Blazers coaches shaking their heads in frustration. Barea would score 15 points in the first half (6/7 FGs). Thanks to his sharpshooting, Dallas had the lead heading into halftime.

Blazers Second Half

Portland continued to have trouble scoring from three, making just seven of their first 27 shots from distance.

Nurkic continued to play well, making Rip City wonder why he wasn’t getting the ball more often. He would finish the game with 15 points (7/8 shooting) and 13 rebounds.

Portland also had trouble stopping rookie Dennis Smith Jr., who scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists in the game.

After three, Portland was still playing catch-up.

These Blazers took the court to start the fourth:

Dallas was not having trouble hitting from deep. With about five minutes left in the game, they were 16/41 (39 percent) from three.

Next: Making the case for Damian Lillard being All-NBA 1st Team

The Blazers simply didn’t have it in Dallas, and they fall to the lowly Mavericks.

Up next: A Thursday game in Houston against the Rockets.

TAKEAWAYS

No. 1

Lillard was limping after this play, but he stayed in the game.

No. 2

The Blazers bad three-point shooting continues. They finish the game 10/40 from beyond the arc.

No. 3

Portland is now 4-4 in their last eight contests.