Trail Blazers Feel the Absence of Jrue Holiday in Loss to Mavericks

📍DALLAS — The only thing worse than only having one healthy point guard is having none.

That's where the Trail Blazers found themselves on Sunday night without Jrue Holiday.

If you're keeping score: Damian Lillard is out for the year rehabbing his torn Achilles, Scoot Henderson is still out with a hamstring tear and Blake Wesley will miss at least the next two months with a right foot fracture. Add in Matisse Thybulle recovering from thumb surgery and the Blazers' guard depth is mostly on the shelf.

Holiday's sore calf couldn't have come at a worse time for a team already down that many bodies at his position and trying to put Friday's blowout loss in Houston behind them. They now head home to Portland having lost four of five games on their first extended road trip of the season after dropping another winnable game to the Mavericks in overtime.

"Jrue is our core," Deni Avdija said. "I feel like he does everything on the floor. He puts us in our positions. He's a real true point guard and a leader. When he's out of the game, it's definitely felt."

Holiday wasn't ruled out until close to tipoff, which could be a sign that his calf injury isn't serious. On Sunday, the Blazers got a glimpse of what it could look like if he's out for longer, and it's not pretty.