PORTLAND — Tuesday night was a reminder that not all reunions have to be complicated and that some legends age more gracefully than others. It also served as a reminder that the young Trail Blazers still have trouble closing teams out.
The Blazers fell to the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night in overtime, 115-112, after going the final 3:25 of regulation without a field goal, including blowing a seven-point lead in the final 1:40.
Deron Williams led the Mavericks with 30 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki pitched in 28 points, including a tip-in with six seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
The Blazers had a season-high 73 points from their bench, including 23 points from Meyers Leonard and 20 from Gerald Henderson, but head coach Terry Stotts wasn’t interested in silver linings after another late-game collapse.
“We did a lot of good things for 46-and-a-half minutes,” Stotts said. “We’ve been in this position too many times not to come away with more wins.”
Most nights when the Blazers have a stumble, they fall back on the notion that it’s all part of the process. But Tuesday night, they admitted that the process should also come with some wins, too.
“We talk about the process a lot and it is about that, but this is one we have to have,” Leonard said. “That’s a part of the process, you can’t lean on that. We should have got this win.”
After the game, several Blazers confirmed that the team rewatched some of the final possessions of regulation in the locker room after the loss.
The Blazers had been switching pick-and-rolls against Nowitzki all night, but it left them exposed for the game-tying tip in as 6-foot-4 CJ McCollum unsuccessfully tried to box Nowtizki out under the hoop.
McCollum embarrassed Nowitzki with a cross over and 3-pointer in the first half that made the crowd go wild, but the Mavs eventually had the last laugh.
Few know how tough of a cover Nowtizki is in those situations like Stotts, who coached him for four seasons as an assistant in Dallas.
“Him in pick and rolls is a problem for everybody,” Stotts said. “When you have penetrating guards, if you get out and show, Dirk’s going to pop. If you lay back he’s going to pop. Dirk in pick and rolls creates a lot of problems for the defense.”
Former Blazer Wesley Matthews scored 18 points, including 11 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Matthews received a standing ovation from the Moda Center crowd when he was introduced Tuesday in his first appearance as a visitor since leaving in free-agency.
“It was amazing,” Matthews said of the ovation. “These fans have been amazing to me since I got here, it meant a lot.”
Nowtizki paid homage to Matthews after Dallas’ first 3-pointer by doing Matthews’ patented bow-and-arrow celebration. Matthews promised to shelve the celebration out of respect for the place he created it in.
Damian Lillard returned to the Blazers line-up after leaving Monday’s loss to the Clippers due to a stomach virus that had him vomiting in the visitors locker room at Staples Center.
Lillard kept his streak of 265 consecutive starts alive, but the Blazers offense struggled with he and McCollum going through 14-for-45 night from the field.
Lillard had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but missed a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Stotts said the play was designed to get the ball to Lillard, letting him dictate what the final look would be.
Stotts rode the wave of the bench, starting Leonard in the second half over Noah Vonleh, who has started the last seven games at power forward.
Portland was up by 10 with just over five minutes left when Matthews hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to four.
