Trail Blazers at Mavericks
There are four teams fighting over the final three spots in the Western Conference playoff bracket, and the Dallas Mavericks are barely hanging onto the No. 8 spot. The Mavericks will try to turn their fortunes around Sunday and gain a game at the expense of the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, who occupy the No. 6 spot through Friday.
The Trail Blazers sit 1 1/2 games ahead of Dallas and entered play Saturday two games clear of the ninth-place Utah Jazz after pulling out a 117-112 win at New Orleans on Friday. The victory marked the third in the last nine games for Portland, which is surrendering an average of 115 points in that span. The Mavericks have their own concerns on the defensive end after getting smoked by the Golden State Warriors in a 130-112 loss on Friday and are staring at a schedule that hits the road for six of seven after Sunday’s tilt, including trips to Portland and Golden State. “It’s a tough position to be in,” Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki told reporters. “We’re going to face some guys that we’re fighting for playoff spots here soon. It’s all big games. Our schedule is a beast. There’s no moral victories right now in March.”
TV: 4 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (36-34): Portland managed to avoid a three-game slide with the win at New Orleans, which snapped a six-game losing streak on the road. “I don’t know if emotionally (the win) does anything for us,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. “We’ve got a game on Sunday and we needed this one. We made plays when we needed to because this is one we couldn’t let get away.” Portland star guard Damian Lillard got clotheslined by Pelicans center Kendrick Perkins in the win but brushed off the hard hit and finished with 33 points.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (34-35): Dallas hung right with Golden State until the fourth quarter on Friday and emerged from the loss with a positive outlook on the team. “It’s a loss where we played with great effort,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “We needed to make a few more shots at key times. We needed to get a little luckier with them missing a few. With a team that good, things have got to go a certain way. You’ve got to make them go a certain way.” Dallas started to fall off the pace when forward Chandler Parsons left the game late in the third quarter with a hamstring injury, and he is day-to-day.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks G Wesley Matthews is 4-of-21 from the field in the last three games.
2. Trail Blazers F/C Meyers Leonard (shoulder) will miss his third straight game.
3. Dallas took the first meeting this season 115-112 in overtime at Portland on Dec. 1.