The Portland Trail Blazers end a five-game road swing on Sunday against a Dallas Mavericks team closing out a four-game homestand.
The home stretch has been unkind to the Mavericks with Friday’s 133-127 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers dropping Dallas to 0-3. The Mavericks have lost seven of their last eight and are 0-4 at home in the month of November.
D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points off the bench in Friday’s loss, but his seven turnovers were a team-high on a night that Dallas committed 22 overall.
The Mavericks’ 17.1 turnovers per game are third-most in the NBA.
“It’s something we’ve talked about and have to address,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said of the team’s turnovers. “If we want to win, being able to get a shot (attempt), then you want a quality shot, (but) the turnovers hurt us.”
Giveaways contribute to Dallas scoring woes. Their 109.2 points per game is the fourth-lowest mark in the NBA, and their 10.2 3-pointers per game is last in the league.
The Mavericks are also faced with a variety of injuries, including Anthony Davis’ continued absence from a calf injury sustained on Oct. 29 vs. Indiana. Before coming out in the first quarter against the Pacers, Davis put up double-doubles in each of the first four games of the season.
Uncertainty surrounding his return to the lineup coincides with the center’s name surfacing in trade rumors and amid front-office upheaval. General manager Nico Harrison was fired earlier this week in a move that Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, appearing on the Amazon Prime pregame show on Friday, said he believed should have happened during the offseason.
Nowitzki criticized the decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, which brought Davis to Dallas last February, as “a black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era.”
Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft, is averaging 15.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, but he is also committing 2.5 turnovers per outing and shooting 43.6% from the field.
Dallas will try to avoid a winless homestand on Sunday against a Portland team that has gone 1-3 over its current road swing.
The Blazers lost a 140-116 decision at Houston on Friday, coming on the heels of a 125-117 win at New Orleans. Portland’s two previous losses on the road trip, last Saturday at Miami and Monday at Orlando, were decided by only five and three points.
Portland’s road stumbles slowed a strong start to the season behind the breakout play of Deni Avdija. His 25.8 points per game lead the Blazers’ 120.6-point per game output (eighth-highest in the NBA).
The Blazers have used aggressive turnover-generating defense to feed their offense, producing the NBA’s third-most takeaways at 17.5 per game.
Four Blazers who have appeared in all 12 games — Toumani Camara, Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant — are averaging at least one steal per game.
“Stay positive,” Holiday said was the message following Friday’s rout. “This was the first game where we got…whooped. Every other game on this road trip we’ve been in, and it’s been a long road trip.”
