Trail Blazers at Pacers
The Portland Trail Blazers attempt to avoid their second three-game losing streak of the season when they visit the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. The Trail Blazers are 1-2 entering the fourth contest of a five-game road and have dropped back-to-back games to Milwaukee and Memphis.
Portland posted its second-lowest scoring output of the season and blew a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead while suffering an 88-86 loss to the Grizzlies on Thursday. "It's frustrating, this is a game we should have won," Trail Blazers shooting guard C.J. McCollum told reporters afterward. "We've had a few of these this year. It doesn't come down to the last play or the last couple possessions, it comes down to being up five, up seven, two minutes, three minutes to go. That's when (if) we close the game out, you win by double digits." The Pacers ended a five-game road trip on a sour note on Friday by falling 111-103 to the struggling Dallas Mavericks to finish 2-3 on the swing. "This is a sad loss," star forward Paul George said afterward. "It's real disappointing. I don't know what it is. I don't have the answers for that."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (12-12): Portland isn’t clicking on all cylinders as coach Terry Stotts admitted the club isn't currently a good team after Wednesday's loss to Milwaukee and star guard Damian Lillard was highly frustrated after the Memphis defeat. Lillard struggled offensively with 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting to fail to reach 20 for the second time in four games while the trio of center Mason Plumlee, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and swingman Allen Crabbe were a combined 5-of-27 from the field. Swingman Evan Turner recorded his second double-double of the season with 15 points and matched a season best of 10 rebounds against the Grizzlies.
ABOUT THE PACERS (11-12): Indiana has been mired in inconsistent play most of the season and Friday's loss was its ninth in a row when having a chance to move above .500. A season-opening win over the Mavericks marks the lone time the Pacers have been above the break-even mark and first-year coach Nate McMillan is still trying to figure out the pulse of the squad. "For us, I felt like we could win this game," McMillan told reporters after Friday's discouraging defeat. "We had to play a certain way. We certainly had to bring more energy on the defensive end of the floor, get some ball movement on the offensive end of the floor, make them defend. And that didn't happen."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers have won five straight and seven of his past eight meetings, including a 131-109 victory on Nov. 30.
2. Indiana SG Monta Ellis missed all five shots while going scoreless on Friday and has reached double digits just once in the past six games.
3. Portland SF Maurice Harkless (ankle) is probable after missing Thursday's loss.