Blazers blow 16-point 4th quarter lead to Mavericks 111-101 in OT

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There’s not really a good way to talk about this game if you are the Portland Trail Blazers. The Dallas Mavericks made a furious comeback to win 111-101 in overtime.

The Blazers were dominating this game after three quarters. Portland was 12 minutes away from no longer having to hear about Damian Lillard’s perimeter shooting slump and their struggles against Western Conference playoff teams.

But the fourth quarter in Dallas Saturday night was catastrophe. One game after a 42-22 fourth quarter sealed them a runaway win against the Suns, the Blazers scored a measly 13 points in the final period of regulation.

It began with a Wesley Matthews 3-pointer but what ensued was a comedy of errors. Blake forced a turnover trying to thread the needle to Matthews when Meyers Leonard was one pass away with a wide open look and the Blazers would turn it over eight more times in the final 12 minutes.

The Blazers didn’t make a field goal between the 3:53 mark of regulation to the 1:46 mark of overtime with Matthews hit a floater in the lane. The Blazers also missed some free-throws that would have at least made the overtime interesting. But they couldn’t even make their freebies. It was a terrible end to what was nearly a signature win for the Blazers heading into the final two games of the road trip.

Lillard had a nice line and played well defensively with 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals (tie career high) and 2 blocks (tied career high). But LaMarcus Aldridge could not be covered in single coverage by anyone the Mavericks had, although Chandler played him better down the stretch. Aldridge had 25 points and 14 rebounds on 50 percent shooting.

Batum was cautious after a pair of good games saying he thought he needed one more before he’s OK and tonight we saw why. He played 40 minutes and was 0/8 from the field with two points but did have 10 rebounds and four assists. The Blazers also had 22 turnovers and too many possessions where they came up with nothing. And that’s awful when you consider the Mavs aren’t exactly a good defense.

The Mavs also had seven players play over 30 minutes and Al-Farouq Aminu and Devin Harris were both game-changers.

• CJ McCollum and Meyers Leonard were both productive off the bench again. They were in the game when the Blazers lead started to slip but they weren’t really involved in the terrible plays. McCollum had 9 points in 15 minutes and Leonard had 5 points and 4 boards in 12 minutes.
• The Mavericks had 20 offensive rebounds, none bigger than the one their last possession of regulation after Harris snagged a Monta Ellis that went over Lillard’s head. It led to a wide open 3-pointer for Nowitzki to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Blazers had 17.
• Robin Lopez and Lillard each had five turnovers to lead the team.
• The Blazers face the Houston Rockets Sunday at 4. It will be their last road game before the All-Star break and also their last game against a team in the playoff picture before the break. After that the Blazers will wrap up the season Wednesday, Feb. 11 against the Los Angeles Lakers.