The Sixers couldn’t stamp their winning West Coast trip with a victory Monday night in Portland.

They fell to a 135-118 loss to the Trail Blazers and finished the trip 3-2. 

Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points for the 30-23 Sixers.

The Blazers crushed the Sixers in the third quarter and improved to 26-28 on the season. Toumani Camara poured in a career-high 30 points. First-time All-Star Deni Avdija had 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. 

The Sixers were down Joel Embiid (right knee injury management), Dominick Barlow (illness) and Quentin Grimes (illness). Portland’s injured players included Damian Lillard, Shaedon Sharpe and Matisse Thybulle. 

The Sixers will host the Knicks on Wednesday night in their final game before the All-Star break. Here are observations on their defeat to the Blazers:

Starting assignment for Watford 

The shorthanded Sixers started Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Trendon Watford and Andre Drummond.

Watford’s start was his first since November. He posted up and laid the ball in for the Sixers’ first points of the night. The former Blazer displayed his post-up game and all-around offensive ability throughout the evening and had 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and three assists in 25 minutes.

He wasn’t shy about making sure Portland was aware of his success. Watford stared down Avdija after scoring an and-one hoop on him in the second quarter.

Though Watford took a fair number of ball handling reps, Maxey was the Sixers’ obvious main option offensively. He was guarded by Camara, an All-Defensive Second Team selection last year. That meant Portland didn’t double team Maxey the way a typical defense would in an Embiid-less game. 

He still had a nice start as a scorer, reaching a dozen points late in the first quarter when he dropped in a soft lefty finger roll. Maxey played the whole first and helped the Sixers build a slim lead. 

Lowry and Beauchamp minutes 

The Sixers’ bench was considerably different from their normal second unit.

Kyle Lowry checked in with 4:16 left in the first quarter for his seventh game of the season. The 39-year-old’s last rotation minutes before Monday came on Dec. 23.

The Sixers played effective zone defense with Lowry on the floor. He didn’t touch the ball much on offense. To no one’s surprise, Lowry had zero trouble understanding where to be, set hard screens, and didn’t look at all discombobulated by the shift from full-time sideline presence to primary bench guard. 

Of course, if Jared McCain were still a Sixer, he would have assumed an important role Monday and played over Lowry.

MarJon Beauchamp made his Sixers debut, entering early in the second quarter. Soon after subbing in, the two-way contract player had a nice kick-out assist of a Drummond three. An Edgecombe triple put the Sixers up 53-43. 

While Beauchamp wasn’t outstanding, he had a few good role player moments — a deflection here, an offensive rebound there — in his 20 minutes. The 25-year-old had 10 points on 3-for-7 shooting, four assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Camara’s career night

The Sixers brought Maxey back in with 4:39 left in the second quarter following five straight Portland points. The Blazers continued their run and went up 62-61 on a Jerami Grant three.

Instead of Avdija or Grant, Camara was Portland’s unlikely top scorer in the first half. He didn’t cool off at halftime and the Blazers thoroughly dominated the third quarter.

Camara blew past his prior career best of six made threes. His eighth long-range jumper gave the Blazers a 90-72 lead. Several of those shots were too open for a player who’d already proven he was having a special shooting night.

Portland’s lead swelled over 20 points and the Sixers looked like a team that just wanted to be back on the East Coast. They lost the third quarter by 27 points.

Once they’re home, the Sixers will rest up and try to enter the break on a high note Wednesday.