The Portland Trail Blazers fell late to the Los Angeles Clippers in a 127-105 loss on Tuesday night, ending their Emirates NBA Cup slate. Although the Blazers didn’t mathematically enter the game with a wild card spot, they sealed their fate with the clear defeat.

A one-two punch from Norman Powell and James Harden, who finished with 30 and 23 points, respectively, was too much for Portland to overcome.

Here are some of the key factors of the game.

Competitive start

The Blazers played a competitive first half and went into halftime trailing by just five points. The offense fired efficiently and they were able to force turnovers on the other side. The main factor that worked against Portland was that the Clippers shot 61% from the field and 40% from behind the arc.

Deni Avdija had a very impressive first quarter. He scored 11 points on a 3-3 shoot from downtown. He was able to extend this move in the second half. While the Blazers weren’t able to consistently force Los Angeles into bad shots, they had enough firepower to keep up.

Terrific finish

Everything collapsed in the second half. After a decent start to the third quarter, the Clippers won 11-0. The deficit, which had previously been just two points, suddenly widened to thirteen points at the end of the quarter. The fourth quarter began with a similar result as Los Angeles went on an 8-0 run and extended its lead to over 20 points.

From that point on, the Clippers were able to eke out a win without their lead even being challenged by the Blazers.

Revenge games?

Los Angeles’ lineup included two former Blazers, Norman Powell and Derrick Jones Jr., in the starting lineup. While none of these players ended their tenure with bad intentions, they certainly played with bad intentions tonight. The pair combined for 45 points on 17-25 shooting from the field and 6-10 from three. Portland couldn’t stop Powell’s jump shooting or Jones’ attacks at the rim.

Fan favorite Nicolas Batum also didn’t have to be substituted for several minutes. Although he didn’t score, he contributed four rebounds and three assists in his 19 minutes.

Two direct shootings

Portland has been a middle-of-the-pack defensive team so far this season, but this loss marks two straight games in which the Blazers have allowed over 125 points. Both opponents also achieved this goal performance with a shooting rate of over 50% from three-point distance. Portland ranks in the bottom third of the league in opponent three-point percentage, indicating an inability to consistently force opponents out of easy perimeter looks.

If the Blazers can’t force an opponent to take bad shots, or if they have an unusually good shooting night, there’s little they can do to keep up. In the last game against the Dallas Mavericks, Portland had a good night with Dallas. However, this game shows what happens when the Blazers don’t manage to stay in the game with their own shots.

Missing middle game

Portland only grabbed 29 rebounds in that game. Although there weren’t many rebounds and both teams shot over 50% from the field, this is the Blazers’ lowest total of the season, surpassing their previous low of 36. Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III were missed greatly in this contest. Deandre Ayton also had a season-low three rebounds.

The Clippers’ Ivaca Zubac led the game with ten rebounds, but no other player in the game grabbed more than five. Because the Blazers were unable to secure rebounds, they were unable to shut down defensive players or convert on reliable second chances.

Escape

Portland had 15 turnovers in the game, just two more than Los Angeles. However, a 19-6 fastbreak point disparity shows that the Blazers were outrebounded more often than not. With similar turnover and steal numbers, the point difference on the break is generally not that large. However, the Clippers’ ability to capitalize in transition, as opposed to Portland’s inability to do so, allowed Los Angeles to capitalize with an influx of easy points.

Next

Box score

The Blazers will wait to see how the NBA schedules its non-Cup games over the next two weeks. Updates to their game list will be released soon.