PORTLAND, Ore. – The Mavericks have leaned on a wide range of scorers for their success this season, but on Saturday, they really had no other choice than to let Kyrie Irving cook and hope for the best.
Missing five members (three starters) of their preferred rotation, the Mavericks went to battle against the Portland Trail Blazers and Irving nearly brought them home.
Making a dazzling array of shots from all distances and angles, Irving led a fourth quarter blitz that came up short as the Blazers held on for a 126-122 victory at Moda Center.
Irving poured in 46 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter during a frantic rally, as the Mavericks came back from 21 points down in the third quarter.
The loss dropped the 20-12 Mavs to 1-1 on this trip that continues Monday at Sacramento.
“He’s Mr. fourth quarter, that’s what he does,” Quentin Grimes said. “We just try to give him as much space as possible, let him work and make the right play.”
Irving hit 16-of-26 shots and all nine of his free throws. He was 5-of-12 from three-point range. His crazy offensive production was offset by four Blazers who scored more than 20 points — Shaedon Sharpe with 23, Anfernee Simons 22 and Deni Avdija and Deandre Ayton with 21 each.
“Kai, our leader, he got us back in that game,” coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t make the right plays on both ends when we got it down.
“That’s just who he is. Kai’s a leader and wants to help the team win. Being able to score 46 wasn’t easy.”
The list of absentees was impressive for the Mavericks. Luka Dončić (left calf strain) is out until sometime in late January, when he will be re-evaluated. Dereck Lively II (left hip contusion) was out, as was Dante Exum, who is recovering from wrist surgery.
And then they were without P.J. Washington, serving his one-game suspension for his part in Friday’s altercation in Phoenix. Naji Marshall was out, as well, and will have three more games in his suspension before he can return.
That’s a playoff-caliber team that the Mavericks were missing. And defensively, the Mavericks clearly weren’t the same without Lively, Marshall and Washington.
“That would probably be the cop out,” Irving said. “But they played well. Give them credit. Whenever you have a team that has four guys scoring over 20 points, it’s going to make an impact.”
The good news was that the competitive spirit was there. But the Blazers, even as woeful as they are (11-20) had enough to fend off the Mavericks.
The last time the Mavericks set foot in the Moda Center, they did so without their defense.
They got a win, 137-131, but it was an absolute layup line for 48 minutes.
This time, it wasn’t all that different, except for the outcome. The Mavericks fell behind early, made a run, then watched the Blazers get away from them again.
“We definitely could have done a better job keeping the game a lot closer,” Irving said. “Getting down like that, I don’t want to say it’s characteristic for us, but we’re used to it to a certain degree to get out of holes like that and give ourselves a chance. Most teams would give up, especially on a back-to-back. But our identity is we don’t want to give up.
The Blazers were without head coach Chauncey Billups, who was with his family for his grandmother’s funeral. Assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren ran the team and said the Mavericks’ shorthanded situation would be Kryptonite for most teams.
But the Mavericks aren’t most teams.
“The thing about the Mavs when you go into a game like this . . . they’re a very deep roster,” he said. “They have players that can keep coming at you, whether they have guys in or out. They have an experienced roster. You can’t let your guard down. It’s a very small margin of error.”
You wouldn’t have known it in the first half, when the Blazers never trailed. They led by as much as 18 points and were up 69-59 at the break.
“In that first quarter, we didn’t give any resistance,” Kidd said. “I thought in the second and the fourth, there was better resistance. I thought the group stayed together. They jumped on us but we stayed together and made it a 10-point game. Then they jumped on us again in the third. But we got it down to six and we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
X: @ESefko
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