Clippers’ big trade deadline acquisitions fail miserably vs. Blazers in killer loss

The Portland Trail Blazers delivered one of their most crucial wins of the season by defeating the Los Angeles Clippers 116–97. The result means that LA has now dropped to the No. 9 seed despite both teams holding a 41-40 record, with the season series now tilted towards Portland.

The game also saw the duo of Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin fail miserably in what was arguably the most important game of the season thus far. While Garland went 5-16 from the field and has three turnovers on the night, Mathurin returned scoreless after playing for just five minutes, per a post on X by Tomer Azarly.

The Clippers managed just 13 points in the final quarter after returning from the third with a two-point deficit. Portland outrebounded (46-35) LA, had fewer turnovers (16-13) and were the better shooting team on the night, going 44.6% from the field.

Regardless, fans will rue another poor night from both Mathurin and Garland, who were acquired earlier in February and have struggled in multiple games recently. Garland, brought in from the Cavaliers in exchange of James Harden and a second-round pick, has averaged 20.2 points and 6.4 rebounds for his new team thus far.

However, he has consistently had inefficient shooting nights despite being among points, recently going 5-17 against the San Antonio Spurs as well. In contrast, Mathurin has seen just one start for the Clippers thus far, averaging 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game thus far.

However, he returned with exactly one assist, zero points and zero rebounds from the game. Mathurin has also failed to score in double digits in three of his last four games.

The only time he managed that in his last four appearances was against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he scored 10. The two players were brought in to support Kawhi Leonard, who has put in some maverick performances of late.

However, with LA now dropping to No. 9, it means they will have to win twice in the play-in to get to the postseason. They still have an outside chance of rising, but will need Portland to lose against the Sacramento Kings while winning against the Golden State Warriors in the teams’ final regular-season games.

Regardless, Deni Avdija led all scorers with 35 points, with Donovan Clingan adding 18 points and 13 rebounds. Robert Williams III came off the bench to score 13 in just 18 minutes, converting both of his three-point attempts.

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