Mavericks at Trail Blazers
The fading Portland Trail Blazers hope to right their ship when the similarly struggling Dallas Mavericks pay them a visit on Wednesday. The Trail Blazers have dropped three straight and seven of eight after blowing a 12-point halftime lead en route to a 126-121 loss at Sacramento on Tuesday in which they allowed 55.6 percent shooting overall and 55 points by DeMarcus Cousins.
Portland, which still has a hold on eighth place in the Western Conference, received 36 points from guard C.J. McCollum on Tuesday but has surrendered an average of 131 over its last three contests. The Mavericks have dropped three of their last four games after a 3-3 stretch, but good news came out of Sunday’s 117-107 loss at Denver as J.J. Barea returned to action. The 32-year-old Barea scored 11 points and handed out four assists in 13 minutes after missing 17 games with a strained calf. The veteran point guard scored 23 points in a 105-95 loss to Portland on Nov. 4 after Dallas had won two of the three meetings between the teams last season.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (7-21): Future Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki (Achilles) and center Andrew Bogut (knee) also could be back for Dallas in the next few weeks, but a major turnaround will be needed for the team to contend for a playoff spot. Free-agent acquisition Harrison Barnes, who leads the team in scoring (20.2 points), recorded 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting against Denver. Point guard Deron Williams is averaging 17.8 points and seven assists over his last five contests while shooting guard Wesley Matthews has averaged only 10.3 over his last four.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (13-17): McCollum drained 13-of-22 from the field Tuesday while backcourt partner Damian Lillard scored 24 points and handed out 15 assists but was just 6-of-20 overall and 1-of-9 from 3-point range. Center Mason Plumlee scored a season-high 27 points against Sacramento – his fourth strong performance in the last five games after being limited to four points versus Golden State on Saturday. Guard Evan Turner (ankle), who is averaging 9.2 points, sat out Tuesday’s contest and is questionable for the game against Dallas.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Dallas G Seth Curry has drained 12-of-20 from 3-point range over his last six games.
2. Portland F Maurice Harkless recorded his second double-double of the season Tuesday (11 points, 10 rebounds).
3. The Mavericks entered Tuesday sixth in the league in points allowed (100.2) but last in scoring (94.1).