DALLAS _ There is no such thing as a must-win NBA game in early February, but for the Mavericks on Tuesday night was as close as it gets.
Coming off a Monday loss at the Western Conference's eighth-place team, Denver, the Mavericks hosted ninth-place Portland at American Airlines Center.
With their playoff hopes waning, the Mavericks rallied from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit and took a one-point lead on a Dirk Nowitzki 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left, but the Blazers pulled out a 114-113 victory on a C.J. McCollum 10-footer with 0.3 left.
Having painstakingly climbed from 15th in the West to 10th, the Mavericks hoped to use the Denver and Portland games as a springboard into playoff contention.
Instead, Dallas lost to Denver by 23 points and, now, this heartbreaker. These two losses 24 hours apart were not a death blow to the Mavericks' playoff chances, but certainly crippled them.
With 30 games left, the Mavericks (20-32) trail the Nuggets by four games and the Blazers by two. And now Dallas has fallen into a 10th-place tie with Sacramento and New Orleans.
"All of our games are important right now if we have any inkling of making the playoffs," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. "Because it's not just about making it. It's about being good enough to be there.")
Are the Mavericks good enough?
"Not yet, not yet," Cuban said.
"I feel really good. I mean, there's times when we have Dirk and four undrafted guys on the court and they're playing well. We've been able to take guys that other people undervalued and turned them into key rotation players and then some."
The Mavericks got 26 points Tuesday from Harrison Barnes, 25 from Nowitzki and 12 points from rookie guard Yogi Ferrell, but Portland got 32 from McCollum and 29 from Damian Lillard.
The Mavericks trailed the Blazers most of the night, and by as much as 60-44 late in the second quarter.
By the end of the third quarter, however, Dallas had pulled within 86-82. And when Dirk Nowitzki sank three free-throws with 10:30 left in the game, the Mavericks had their first lead, 89-88, since the first quarter.
The Blazers scored eight straight points and eventually pushed the lead back to 10, but Barnes and Farrell led the late rally.
A Farrell 3-point play gave Dallas a 102-101 lead.
Tuesday's game began a stretch in which the Mavericks will play four straight at home, as well is 11 of their next 16. If they are to make a playoff push it almost certainly will have to be during this stretch.
Over the season's final 17 games, Dallas will play 11 times on the road, including seven of its last nine.
