The Portland Trail Blazers are looking to build on their two-game winning streak against the Dallas Mavericks at home tonight. Portland has taken down the Brooklyn Nets and Milwuakee Bucks so far on this homestand and currently sit at .500, just a half a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers in the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference Play-In race.
The Mavericks are eliminated from the playoffs and find themselves losers of five straight games as they hope to have the lottery work in their
favor again. They currently hold the sixth-best lottery odds.
What You Need To Know
Portland Trail Blazers (37-37) vs Dallas Mavericks (23-50) Friday, Mar. 27 – 7pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to stream: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
Trail Blazers Injuries: Yang Hansen, Damian Lillard, Shaedon Sharpe, Chris Youngblood, Jayson Kent (Out); Vit Krejci (Doubtful); Robert Williams III (Questionable)
Mavericks injuries: Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, Caleb Martin (Out)
What To Watch For
Take care of business. One team fighting for every win and another needing every loss to keep their small lead in the lottery odds. What does that sound like a recipe for? A disappointing late-season loss. Portland just needs to go out and win, take care of business against a team that’s eager to go out and take a loss. However, it isn’t always that simple. Dallas sits near the bottom of the standings, but their injury report is not as full as many tanking teams at this point of the year. 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg is suiting up and has been playing very well in his first season. The Blazers cannot afford to assume this game will be an easy win. They have to still go out and compete in a situation where every win matters.
Winning the rebound battle. The Mavericks are playing without their top two centers in Gafford and Lively, which should allow Donovan Clingan to dominate the glass. Clingan has proven time and time again this season that his rebounding ability is among the best in the NBA, and it will be able to be utilized fully against a team lacking size in the front court. Since the beginning of March, Clingan has averaged 14.9 points and 12.9 rebounds per game and he should be able to overperform those averages by leveraging his size in the paint this contest.
What Others Are Saying
Mette Robertson of Mavs Moneyball talks about finding reasons for hope amid a tanking season, in this case, Cooper Flagg learning from veteran forward Khris Middleton.
Sometimes, it just takes one little thing for the puzzle pieces to fall into place and provide a little peace of mind. It was seeing Khris Middleton coaching Cooper Flagg earlier this week that did it for me. Now finally we can call it a season with peace of mind, was the thought that popped into my head.
Let me explain. After a discombobulated season, a half-tanking experiment while still trying to keep a future superstar happy and motivated, this little scene earlier this week grabbed my attention. Was that Khris Middleton, NBA Champion and versatile post player extraordinaire, coaching versatile rookie extraordinaire on the details of the post-up fadeaway?
