Portland’s late bucket puts dagger in Mavericks’ playoff climb

After getting within shouting distance of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, suddenly the Dallas Mavericks are headed in the wrong direction.

Guard C.J. McCollum knifed his way into the lane and scored with a mere 0.3 seconds remaining to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a 114-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The loss was the second in as many nights for the Mavs, who had won nine of their previous 12 games prior to Monday’s blowout loss in Denver. The Mavs are now tied with Sacramento and New Orleans for 10th in the West at 20-32, ninth-seeded Portland is 23-30 and eighth-seeded Denver is 23-28.

In this opener of a four-game homestand, the Mavs missed a golden opportunity to make up some serious ground on the Blazers. And it’s a loss that could hamper their playoff hopes.

Dirk Nowitzki had given the Mavs a 113-112 lead when he nailed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left. But the Blazers called timeout, worked the ball on the left side to McCollum, and he slithered through the lane and hoisted the game-winning shot in traffic to break the Mavs’ heart.

“You’re never going to be involved in a better regular season game, that’s for sure,” said coach Rick Carlisle, whose team beat the Blazers by four points in Portland last Friday. “It was just a great game all around.

“I’m disappointed for our guys. They made one more play than we did and it was one of those nights where the team that had the ball last with some clock was most likely to win the game.”

Each team traded late 13-0 runs in the game, the last one gave the Mavs a 102-101 lead with 4:15 left following a 3-point play by rookie guard Yogi Ferrell. From there, it was a see-saw affair with Nowitzki drilling a 3-pointer to supply Dallas with a 108-107 lead with 38.9 seconds to go.

McCollum and Devin Harris traded baskets as the Mavs clung to a 110-109 lead with 19.1 ticks left. But McCollum struck again as he drove the lane, scored and was fouled by Harris. He completed the 3-point play to put Portland up 112-110 with 12.3 seconds remaining.

That’s when it appeared as though Nowitzki, who finished with 25 points, was going to be the hero after he drilled another dramatic 3-pointer to retake the lead. McCollum, however, had the final say.

“These games have had these patterns with Portland,” Carlisle said. “I think playing back-to-back makes it a little tougher too, but we hung in and we got the lead back.”

Besides Nowitzki, the Mavs got 26 points and five rebounds from Harrison Barnes, 23 points from Wesley Matthews, and 12 points apiece from Harris and Ferrell.

“This is a vintage night for him,” Carlisle said of Nowitzki, who moved into 10th place in all-time field goals made in the NBA. “He’s obviously getting back to where he’s really feeling good.

“To be able to have this kind of a night on the second night of a back-to-back – and a tough back-to-back, too – he played a phenomenal game.”

Seth Curry struggled for the Mavs, finished with four points and took just one shot after injuring his left shoulder. The Blazers pounded the Mavs on the boards, 55-30.

McCollum led Portland with 32 points, Damian Lillard scored 29 and Mason Plumlee had 12 points and 15 rebounds. Former Mavericks forward Al-Farouq Aminu came off the bench to toss in 12 points and grab 11 rebounds, and Evan Turner added 11 points before leaving in the second hand with a fractured hand.

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Portland’s late bucket puts dagger in Mavericks’ playoff climb."