In Portland, the Raptors come back to force OT but lose to the Blazers: "We never stopped competing."

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) celebrates after hitting a shot as Toronto Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. (33) looks on during overtime of an NBA basketball game in Portland on Saturday.

Steve Dykes / AP photo

In a matchup of two undermanned teams struggling down the final stretch of a gruelling NBA season, the Portland Trail Blazers threw the first punch and emerged victorious in overtime Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors.

A depleted rotation became even more thin prior to tipoff when the Raptors removed RJ Barrett from the lineup with an illness, replaced by rookie Gradey Dick. The Raptors fell behind by as many as 21 points early but came back in the fourth quarter to force overtime with less than a second left. But the Raptors couldn’t close the deal, falling 128-118.

Portland centre Deandre Ayton, who missed the past five games with a hand injury, returned and used his size advantage to finish with 30 points and 19 rebounds. Toronto-born and former Raptors guard Dalano Banton had an impressive all-around outing with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Raptors storm back to force overtime but fall to Blazers in Portland: ‘We never stopped competing’

A flurry of threes made things interesting in the fourth quarter and Toronto tied it with a tip-in basket by Chris Boucher with 0.7 seconds left. But the Raptors couldn’t make a field goal in OT until the game was out of reach.

Steve Dykes / AP photo

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Portland (18-45) is 3-7 in its last 10 while Toronto (23-41) is 4-6.

“Offensively I thought Portland brought a lot of physicality and as the game was progressing, we were trying to figure out how to play against that physicality,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters in Portland after the game. “In overtime, I felt we took good shots, they didn’t fall.”

The Raptors looked discombobulated to start the game, allowing Portland to build a double-digit lead early in the first quarter. Glaring miscommunication on defence gave the Blazers ample opportunities to score from the paint and outside. Toronto also had trouble scoring, managing only 16 points in the first quarter — its lowest output this season to start the game.

A flurry of threes made things interesting in the fourth quarter as the Raptors mounted a furious but ultimately futile comeback. Toronto tied the game with a tip-in basket by Chris Boucher with 0.7 seconds left. But the Trail Blazers showed poise as Toronto couldn’t make a field goal in overtime until the game was out of reach.

Boucher, whom Rajakovic praised for staying professional despite falling out of the rotation, was huge in the comeback and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. Rajakovic said he liked the looks that the team was creating with ball movement in the comeback.

“I’m really proud of our effort. We never stopped competing,” he said.

He said a major part of the reason they lost was turnovers (20) and giving Portland too many second-chance points. Portland grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded Toronto 52-43 overall. The Blazers also scored 54 points in the paint.

None of the starters for Toronto in its first game with Portland last October (which the Raptors lost 99-91) were in the lineup Saturday. Pascal Siakam (traded to Indiana), OG Anunoby (traded to New York) and Dennis Schröder (traded to Brooklyn Nets) were in the starting lineup, along with Jakob Poeltl and Scottie Barnes.

Barnes and Poeltl are still out with injury, and there is no timetable for their return to action this season, with 18 games left.