‘We need to play with a sense of desperation’: Portland Trail Blazers fall 120-113 to Memphis Grizzlies, seas – OregonLive

The Portland Trail Blazers season is circling down the drain at an alarming rate with no end in sight.

The Blazers fell 120-113 to Memphis on Sunday two days after losing 130-128 to these same Grizzlies, who clearly looked more athletic and hungrier than the Blazers.

The result is that seventh-place Portland (32-28) is now just a half game ahead of the eighth-place Grizzlies (31-28) in the Western Conference standings and the two teams will meet again on Wednesday in Memphis.

Sixth-place Dallas (33-26) now has a 1 1/2 game lead on the Blazers, who have lost five in a row and 10 out of 13 with 12 games remaining. Four of the team’s last six losses have come by two points or less, offering a glimmer of hope that maybe the team can turn things around before it finds itself in 10th place and having to go on the road in the play-in round.

“I think we’re a little frustrated right now,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “You look at some of these games, the one-point losses. I don’t think we were out of sorts against Boston or against San Antonio, or Denver or the (Los Angeles) Clippers, so I think recently we’ve been playing good basketball and came up short in some close games.”

True, but that’s little consolation considering that the losses are piling up at an alarming rate for a team that on March 31 was 29-18. Making matters worse, the Blazers are 5-14 this season against the teams they will face in their final 12 games.

When asked if frustration has turned into desperation, Stotts said: “We’re getting close. We need to play with a sense of desperation. There’s no question. I think we’re better when we play like that. But, at this stage of the season with 12 games left and looking at the standings, there has to be a certain measure of desperation when you play, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

The Blazers shot just 37.1% from the field while Memphis shot 46.2%. Ja Morant led the Grizzlies with 26 points and eight assists. He had 33 points and 13 assists on Friday.

Damian Lillard had one of his worst shooting games of the season, making just 8 of 27 shots for 23 points with five assists. Center Jusuf Nurkic had another strong game with 16 points and 19 rebounds.

DAMIAN LILLARD’S STRUGGLES

Lillard is mired in a horrible slump. For the month of April, he is shooting 38.3% from the field while averaging 22 points per game. On the season, Lillard is at 43.7% and 28.5 points per game.

Lillard offered no excuses but he has suffered a long list of injuries this season. Abdomen strain, quad contusion, hand, hamstring, ankle, etc.

“The only thing I could do is look in the mirror at myself, evaluate myself,” Lillard said. “I’m just not playing well enough. I don’t think it’s worth going into what goes into it or anything like that. I’m on the floor and I’m just not playing well enough. If we’re going to be better, I know that our team’s success is parallel to me being better and I just haven’t played good enough.”

Lillard missed three games with a hamstring injury before returning Wednesday against the Denver. Earlier in the season when CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic were out with injuries, Lillard had to carry a huge burden. But he said fatigue is not a factor.

IT WAS OVER WHEN

The Blazers trailed 58-47 at halftime. The deficit reached 16 points in the third quarter when Grizzlies’ forward Kyle Anderson hit a three to give Memphis a 71-55 lead as it became clear that the Grizzlies’ length and athleticism were once again taking their toll on the Blazers.

Memphis entered the fourth quarter with a 90-78 lead before Carmelo Anthony got red hot. He made three three-point baskets to fuel a 14-4 run that had the Blazers down just 94-92 with 9:32 to go.

But the Grizzlies pushed back with a 10-run that included three free throws from Dillon Brooks after he was fouled by Nassir Little while shooting a three and then a three-point basket from Brooks that made the score 104-92 with 6:35 remaining.

All appeared lost when the Grizzlies led 113-103 with 2:45 remaining but the Blazers managed to find another run in them. They got a three from McCollum, a jumper from Norman Powell and then a three-point play from Nurkic to make the score 114-111 with 58.3 seconds remaining.

But the Grizzlies made 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch while the Blazers went 1 of 4 from the field with two turnovers.

“If we’re not frustrated, that’s a problem,” Lillard said. “We haven’t been anywhere near good enough.”

SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OUT

Nurkic had another great game, scoring 16 points with 19 rebounds. He went for 26 points and 17 rebounds on Friday.

McCollum made 10 of 21 shots and 4 of 10 threes for 27 points.

Morant made 8 of 15 shots and 3 of 4 threes to reach 28 points. He also had three assists and eight rebounds.

Jonas Valanciunas, who didn’t play Friday because he was in concussion protocol, scored 21 points on 9 of 17 shooting and had 10 rebounds.

SHOWED UP AND FIZZLED

Robert Covington went 0 of 7 from the field and finished with two points but he did have eight rebounds.

Little, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Derrick Jones Jr. combined for 18 minutes off the bench and produced just one point on a free throw from Hollis-Jefferson.

Grayson Allen made just 3 of 12 shots for Memphis to finish with nine points.

NEXT UP (Blazers schedule)

The Blazers start a six-game trip Tuesday at Indiana. The trip also includes stops at Memphis, Brooklyn, Boston, Atlanta and Cleveland.

— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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