The Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Phoenix Suns 111-107 in overtime on Tuesday night, extending their losing streak to six games. Even that depressing string of defeats, unfortunately, isn't an accurate indication of the Blazers' current depths. Portland is now 1-9 in its last 10 games and has lost five straight at Moda Center after beginning the season 10-1 from the comforts of Rip City.

“I just think we're in one of those situations where it's gonna be ugly sometimes, it's gonna be a grind-it-out situation. But to me it's a mental thing, just getting over the hump,” Damian Lillard said after the game. “Sometimes it gets harder. Sometimes you gotta work a little bit harder. You come up on the short end and gotta work harder to get over the hump. I thought tonight was that opportunity, a big game against a good team. We had our opportunities. We could've done a lot of things better. It's a tough one to let go.”

Lillard notched 47 minutes against Phoenix, on the floor for the entirety of the second half and overtime in just his second game back from nearly two weeks on the sideline managing abdominal tendinopathy. He dropped 31 points and 10 assists on Tuesday, at times after intermission looking like the All-NBA playmaker he has been for the last four seasons. The inefficiency that has dogged him since 2021-22 tipped off reared its ugly head again, though, with Lillard shooting 10-of-31 from the field and 5-of-16 from 3-point range.

Portland, playing absent the injured CJ McCollum and Cody Zeller, roared back from a double-digit deficit early in the third quarter, encouraged by a raucous Moda Center crowd yearning for the smallest success. The home team led 89-83 with 7:28 remaining when Jusuf Nurkic subbed in for Larry Nance Jr, who had helped spearhead the Blazers' comeback on both sides of the ball.

It was a one-point game just a couple minutes later, ceding way to a back-and-forth affair in crunch time and the extra session that exposed Portland's oft-stagnant offensive execution when scores were needed most.

“We haven't been the best,” Lillard said of Portland's play in the clutch this season. “In the past it's been a time where we usually make something out of nothing and we come up big.” The first thing that I think of is I've been able to come up big a lot more often in the past. This year it's been less of the case.”

The loss pushes Portland to 11-17 and 11th place in the Western Conference. Don't expect the Blazers to give up fighting for more than a spot in the play-in tournament, though. Sensing his team needed an emotional boost, Lillard even took the rare step during Monday's practice of addressing Portland's dire straits and what it will take for them to end.

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.
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“This is the moment that a lot of teams choose to pack it in and say, ‘You know what, it's tough, we're this many games under .500, we haven't been playing great,'” he said. “And they just fold and they become one of those bottom teams. I just said [at practice], ‘That's not who we are. This ain't our first time being in this situation. It's not the situation we wanna be in. We dig. We dig out, we find a way, and we're gonna do that once again.'”

Lillard shouldered much of the blame for Tuesday's loss. He lamented the way he shot the ball, excoriated himself for missing a crucial late free throw and admitted his role in Portland's ongoing crunch-time labors.

Still, Lillard knows exactly what it will take for the Blazers to end their losing streak, and he's ready to do it.

“I'm a soldier,” Lillard said. “I know that in my heart. I know how to will a team.”

He tried against the short-handed Suns, who were still without Devin Booker on the second night of a back-to-back, and failed. At least Lillard won't have to wait long for his next chance, though. Portland hosts the surging Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.