Dallas at Portland

Portland has hit the wall over the past week, beaten by 16 at home against Las Vegas and by 17 on the road in Los Angeles. The offense has gone cold at the wrong time. But both losses came against the kind of veteran rosters that punish a young team, and tonight brings a very different opponent. Dallas carries the most explosive offense in the league and very little defense to pair with it, ranking in the bottom third at getting stops. The Wings pile up points. They give plenty back, too. That profile produces track meets, not the comfortable double-digit road win a near-touchdown number implies. Dallas is streaky on top of it, run off the floor by 24 at Minnesota a week before handling Phoenix at home by 15. Laying close to seven on the road, against a team that can't get off the court defensively, is a heavy price. Portland doesn't need to win this. It needs to hang around, and Dallas isn't built to bury anyone right now. Take the Fire with the points tonight.