Mavericks Just Held Trail Blazers to One of the Worst Performances in NBA History

The Dallas Mavericks picked up just their 24th win of the season on Friday night, beating the Portland Trail Blazers on the road 100-93. The Mavs do not need to be winning games, as they're already eliminated from postseason contention. They should be tanking, and with the Trail Blazers already locked into the Play-In, fighting with the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors for seeding, you'd think they'd come out with more energy than they did.

Instead, Portland had one of the worst performances in recent NBA history. They shot just 39.2% from the floor, 26.7% from three, 69.7% from the free-throw line, and turned it over 25 times. It's just the fourth instance since 2012-13 of a team shooting below 40% from the floor, 30% from three, 70% from the free-throw line, and turning it over at least 25 times, per Mark Followill.

Oddly enough, the Mavericks were on the right side of one of those other games, a 123-70 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in November of 2014. It's also the second time this season that this has happened, as the Indiana Pacers put up a stinker against the Detroit Pistons in a 121-78 loss back in January.

Portland will certainly want to forget their performance on Friday night. One of two teams this year and just the 4th since the 2012-13 season to have a game with less than all three of 40% FG/30% on 3s/70% FTs and 25+ turnovers. pic.twitter.com/RnTikvz0gt
— Mark Followill (@MFollowill) March 28, 2026

Dallas' Disappointing Defense

The Mavericks were supposed to be an elite defensive team this season, with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II anchoring the inside. However, Davis played in just 20 games due to injuries before being traded to the Washington Wizards, and Lively played just 7 games before needing season-ending foot surgery.

That has left Cooper Flagg to be the best defender. Daniel Gafford has been in and out of the lineup because of injuries, P.J. Washington has been inconsistent, and Naji Marshall hasn't been as impactful a defender this year as we've become accustomed to.

After starting the season with one of the league's better defenses, the Mavericks are now just 18th in defensive rating and 23rd in points allowed per game. Protecting the interior was supposed to be a strength, but it's actually the team's biggest weakness, as no one in the NBA is allowing more points in the paint than the Mavs.

They're at least defending the three well, but the interior defense has to be cleaned up next year. Getting Lively back healthy will be huge, as they can go back to their two-man rotation of Lively and Gafford. They could always trade Gafford and sign Moussa Cisse to a standard deal, who has been impressive on his two-way contract, but that may be risky for a team looking to bounce back to contention next year.

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