Dallas’ fourth-quarter comeback attempt was over as quickly as it started on the second night of a back-to-back set.
There are a lot of built-in excuses for this one, but that doesn’t make what happened Saturday night at the Moda Center any prettier. The Dallas Mavericks (20-12) dropped a 126-122 decision to the lowly Portland Trail Blazers (11-20) after a failed fourth-quarter comeback attempt on the second night of a back-to-back set following Friday night’s histrionics in a win at Phoenix and after recent injuries to both Luka Dončić and Dereck Lively II.
Kyrie Irving led the way for the Mavericks with a new season-high mark of 46 points on 16-of-26 shooting, including 5-of-12 from 3-point land, to go along with two steals on defense. But Saturday night’s game devolved into something akin to the worst Summer League game you’ve ever channel-surfed passed as the third quarter wore on before the Mavs put together their furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt. Portland, a team that famously has trouble finding the broad side of a barn on offense, put six players into double-figure scoring against the Mavs. Five of them scored 19 or more, led by Shaedon Sharpe, with 23.
Here are four stats that stood out from Saturday’s loss in Portland.
16-6: Portland’s first-quarter rebounding edge
Through the game’s first nine minutes, the Blazers were out-rebounding the Mavericks 13-3, leading to nine Portland second-chance points early on. All nine of those second-chance points came during an 18-4 Portland run that saw their early lead swell to as large as 18 points, up 34-16 after Scoot Henderson’s mid-range jumper with 2:11 left in the first.
Dallas put nine different players into the game in the first quarter, and not one of them had any inkling of putting his backside on a Portland Trail Blazer to secure a defensive board.
The Mavs responded with a little 9-0 spurt of their own at the end of the frame, but only when they started limiting the Trail Blazers to one shot per possession. Portland took a 36-25 lead and held a 16-6 rebounding edge after one. They out-rebounded Dallas 55-48 on the night.
46: Kyrie Irving scoring
Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images
Irving had to drag the lethargic Mavs offense along to get back within 10 points at halftime. He scored from all over the floor in the first half, often having to create tough shots and exert maximum energy to convert on twisting, off-balance drives to the bucket. He connected on three straight possessions, a long 3-pointer, a drive through heavy Portland traffic and a fading mid-range jumper to pull the Mavericks to within 66-59 with 42 seconds left before the break. Henderson responded with his first 3-ball of the game the next time down to make it a 69-59 game at the half.
Irving piled up 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting (2-of-5 from 3-point range) in the first two quarters in his 18 minutes played. The production is great and was necessary, but the Mavericks have to find a way to avoid running the 32-year-old into the ground in Dončić’s absence. A little help from his friends would be nice. Klay Thompson and Spencer Dinwiddie combined to shoot just 10-of-30 from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range in the loss.
Irving scored just two points in the third quarter before giving the Blazers a heaping helping hero ball in the fourth to the tune of 20 points as the Mavs tried to claw their way back into the lead.
24-to-12: Portland’s fast-break scoring advantage
The Blazers are a team that really only has one way to beat you: getting out quickly, running and finding easy buckets in the fast break. They absolutely owned this beleaguered version of the Mavs in the fast break on Saturday. Portland found open 3-pointers off the fast break, they got to the line for 3-point play opportunities and made hay running the Mavs and their short bench ragged on the way to a 24-7 fast-break points advantage through three quarters. Dallas scored the fourth quarter’s only five fast break points to bring the final advantage 24-12
As a corollary, the Trail Blazers outscored the Mavericks 58-38 in the paint on Saturday. Dallas came in averaging 50.5 points in the paint (8th in the NBA) per game, while the Blazers came in averaging 48.3 (14th in the NBA).
Deandre Ayton abused Daniel Gafford in the post all night long. Ayton scored 21 points on 9-of-15 and pulled down 16 rebounds in the win.
11-2: Irving’s personal fourth-quarter run
The Mavericks closed to within five points late in the game as Irving went ballistic in the fourth. He went on an 11-2 run on his own early in the fourth quarter to pull the Mavs to within 102-97 with less than nine minutes to play. He hit three contested 3-balls and a turnaround jumper along the baseline over Jerami Grant in that stretch.
The Mavs got back to within five a couple different times late in the game, but Portland had a timely answer each time down the stretch. Both Dinwiddie and Quentin Grimes nailed desperation 3-pointers late in the fourth, but the Mavs just didn’t have enough in the tank to complete the comeback with a short bench on the second night of a back-to-back.