PORTLAND, Ore. - The Mavericks have one player who doesn't mind instigating stuff on the court and Salah Mejri's teammates are glad he's getting a bit of a reputation around the NBA.

Mejri's play in the final minutes came under much scrutiny after the Mavericks' 117-108 loss to Portland on Saturday. He was involved in a tangle with Blazers Jusuf Nurkic and Evan Turner and emerged with nasty scratches on his right shoulder.

He also was called for a goaltend that clearly was not, one of several officiating calls in the fourth quarter that irked the Mavericks - including a couple against rookie Dennis Smith Jr. that had both the rookie point guard and owner Mark Cuban wondering what has to happen for Smith to make a few more trips to the free-throw line.

It spiced up a game in which the Mavericks fell way behind, as usual, and couldn't make up the deficit, also as usual.

It was their third loss in a row, sixth in eight games and dropped them to 15-31.

But the intrigue was heavy down the stretch, particularly for Mejri, who plays with as much of an edge as any Maverick.

"Salah goes very hard," coach Rick Carlisle said. He competes on every possession and that's a good thing for this team."

That's the diplomatic comment.

Inside the locker room, it went a little deeper.

"I think he's getting a reputation," said Wesley Matthews, someone who is familiar with getting down and dirty on the court. "Is it good for us? I love the edge. And he's got to keep playing with it. There's a line somewhere. But he'll be all right."

J.J. Barea quickly chimed in: "We need that."

Mejri is a fighter. And the play that defined that came with 4:36 to go and the Mavericks down 105-95. Mejri tried to go for a dunk, but was denied and then locked arms with Nurkic, who pulled away and then went to the bench to get looked at. Turner then interceded and pushed Mejri away.

The result was a technical foul on Nurkic and a personal foul on Nurkic and the Mavericks would get only one point out of it. That pretty much stymied their attempted comeback from 17 points down in the second half.

"I'm like that," Mejri said. "People don't like my expressions, the way I play, they don't like that I'm getting in the mix every time. I don't care. I'm doing my job. That's why I'm getting paid. I don't do anything on purpose. Please, (show) me one time where I hurt somebody or gave a cheap shot. How many cheap shots did I get tonight? Three? Four? For what? For blocking shots. I'm doing nothing wrong. I'm blocking shots. That's why coach puts me in. I'm not a shooter.

"I'll keep doing my job. I'm not trying to hurt anybody. Turner punched me in the face. Hard. Maybe they didn't see it.

As for Nurkic, he saw it a bit differently: "He got fouled, but then he locked my arm on purpose and I didn't like it. He almost broke it. I just let him know - dirty plays, I don't like them."

Salah Mejri threatened to come into the #Blazers locker room after his altercation with Nurkić, Turner. "The guy literally threw himself on the ground, then commits to talking $#!t..." #ripcity pic.twitter.com/eadnSsNnow — NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 21, 2018

The Mavericks like the way Mejri has given them an edge, and also that they don't have to run plays for him. He does all his work in the flow of the game.

"He plays hard," Dirk Nowitzki said. "He's a great shot-blocker for us. We usually have Salah in shootaround. And he's The Mej at night. It's two different people. At shootaround, he's a nice guy and can barely move. Then in the evening, The Mej is out. He gets in his compete mode and he doesn't have friends out there. He just wants to help us win. And we love to play with him."

Meanwhile, there was Smith's night. He had a big fourth quarter with 11 of his 21 points, but also picked up an offensive foul on a fast break, plus several no-calls on runs to the basket.

That prompted Cuban, who was not at the game, to take to social media.

"The unfortunate reality is that (Smith) has to learn to yell and flop in order to get respect," Cuban said on Twitter.

Smith did not disagree. Although he doesn't want to go about his business that way, it may be necessary, he said.

"That's what it's looking like," Smith said. "This is my first year in the league. I'm from the 'hood. All the yelling and stuff, we don't really do all that. That'll be something I got to learn how to do. It's unfortunate that that's what it's come down to. But I guess that's what this league is about right now."

Twitter: @ESefko