Mavs waste “vintage night” from Nowitzki in 114-113 loss to the Blazers

In one of those games with possibly playoff implications, the Dallas Mavericks wasted one of Dirk Nowitzki’s best performances of the season.

The 19-year veteran dropped in a dramatic 3-pointer with only 3.9 seconds left Tuesday night to give the Mavs a 113-112 lead over Portland. But that was more than enough time for C.J. McCollum to slither through the lane and float in the game-winning basket just inside the key with only 0.3 seconds remaining that provided Portland with a 114-113 victory.

That crucial bucket by McCollum marred a night when the Mavs dropped their second straight game and fell to 20-32 overall. It also left the Mavs four-and-a-half games behind eighth-place Denver (23-28) and two-and-a-half behind ninth-place Portland (23-30) in the race for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.

On a night when the Mavs’ starting backcourt of Yogi Ferrell and Seth Curry combined for just 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, Nowitzki more than took up the slack. The Mavs’ superstar forward scored 25 points in 30 minutes on 7-of-16 shots.

This is just the second time Nowitzki has reached the 20-point barrier this season. The other was Jan. 9 in a loss to Minnesota when he scored 26 points in 31 minutes.

And since Nowitzki played 24 minutes in the mile high air in Denver during Monday’s 23-point loss to the Nuggets, that made his performance against the Blazers even more impressive.

“This is a vintage night for him,” coach Rick 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. And the shot-making at the end was just vintage – it was breathtaking.”

Unfortunately, the step-back-in-time performance by Nowitzki wasn’t enough to get the Mavs over the hump. That’s because the Mavs got hammered on the boards, 55-30, and they couldn’t do anything Damian Lillard and McCollum.

Portland’s starting backcourt combined for 61 points, making 25-of-43 shots. McCollum had 32 points on 13-of-21 field goals. With McCollum scoring 14 points, he and Lillard combined for 18 of the 28 points the Blazers tallied in the final quarter.

McCollum scored his team’s final seven points, including the game-winning dagger that drained the life out of the Mavs.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts said his team’s final play wasn’t particularly set up for McCollum to take the last shot. He said Lillard also factored into the equation.

“Both of them were options,” said Stotts, who was an assistant coach under Carlisle on the Mavs’ 2011 NBA championship team. “They denied Damian on both out of bounds plays.

“Damian was an option and C.J. was an option, and the ball found C.J.”

Lillard poured in 10 points as Portland bolted ahead 32-17 after the first quarter. Lillard added another 12 points in the second quarter, which helped Portland carry a 64-53 lead into the dressing room at halftime.

With the Blazers scoring on 10 of 11 possessions, Portland mounted a 60-44 lead with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter as a 3-pointer by Lillard put the finishing touches on a splendid 16-2 run. But with Nowitzki tallying 19 second-half points, the hard-charging Mavs came charging back.

Nowitzki was actually in position to be the hero twice, and both times it was negated by McCollum. Nowitzki’s 3-pointer with 38.9 seconds left pushed the Mavs ahead 108-107, but McCollum scored less than five seconds later to put Portland back in front by one.

Devin Harris then drove from the right baseline and scored to give Dallas a one-point lead with 19.3 seconds left. But McCollum – again – scored, was fouled by Harris, and completed a 3-point play that vaulted the Blazers into a 112-110 lead with 12.3 ticks remaining.

Then came the second go-ahead 3-pointer by Nowitzki with just 3.9 seconds left which shifted the American Airlines Center sellout crowd of 19,326 into a frenzy.

But again, McCollum saved the day for the Blazers.

“I caught the ball with about three seconds left, close to the sideline,” McCollum said. “I know that Wesley (Matthews) in late game situations likes to press up on guys.

“Once I caught it, I knew I was going to attack right away, I had seen Harrison Barnes coming from the left side, so I just threw the ball up there and tried to split, get to the free throw line area and get to my sweet spot. I got there and knew it was a shot I was comfortable with, so I had a good feeling it would go in.”

It did. And suddenly the Mavs have serious hit a bump in the road and are riding a two-game losing streak after winning nine of their previous 12 games.

Still, with Barnes pouring in 26 points, Nowitzki firing in 25 and Matthews adding 23, the Mavs were right at the door of claiming another victory. They just couldn’t knock the door down.

“You’re never going to be involved in a better regular season game, that’s for sure,” Carlisle said. “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.”

Ferrell, who signed a two-year contract with the Mavs on Tuesday, scored just 12 points on 4-of-9 shots after tallying a career-high 32 points on 11-of-17 during the Mavs’ 108-104 win in Portland on Friday.

And Curry, who left the court in the second half after hurting his left shoulder during a collision with Blazers center Mason Plumlee, didn’t score his first points until less than a minute remained in the third quarter. Curry took just one shot on the night – he made it – and finished the game with just four points.

“He really hurt these guys (with 19 points on Friday night) and they made him a big priority defensively,” Carlisle said of Curry. “They made it tough for him to get catches and get quality shots off.

“He didn’t even get a shot off in the first half. In the second half we made some adjustments and did some good things.”

Yet it wasn’t enough.

“It was obviously another exciting game that we played against Dallas,” Stotts said. “The finish was incredible great shot-making by both teams, and I’m glad we don’t have to play them any more.”

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 11:45 PM with the headline "Mavs waste “vintage night” from Nowitzki in 114-113 loss to the Blazers."