At some point, even the most devoted Portland Trail Blazers fans have to throw up their hands and wonder in frustration:

When is it going to end?

This was supposed to be a season of hope. This was supposed to be a season of defined growth. This was supposed to be a season that revealed the path toward a successful future.

Instead, the Blazers limped past Game No. 30 with another narrow, hard-to-swallow defeat, following the same maddening formula that has resulted in so many losses this season.

They trailed early. They rallied late. They didn’t deliver in crunch time.

It was the Orlando Magic that delivered the body blow this time, defeating the Blazers 110-106 on Tuesday night at the Moda Center. But it might as well have been the Detroit Pistons on Monday night … or the Chicago Bulls in November … or even the Orlando Magic when the teams’ first played in November. It’s become the Blazers’ calling card.

“Those losses are tough,” Blazers forward Deni Avdija said. “But you really learn from them. I’d rather lose tight games like that than actually get blown out. So there’s always worse scenarios.”

Fair. But the old NBA adage is that teams reveal who they are by Christmas. And the Blazers (12-18) hobbled toward Christmas six-games-under .500 and reeling from back-to-back losses at home.

To be sure, injuries have made it impossible to judge Portland based on that old NBA adage. Eleven different Blazers have missed a combined 154 games this season, including some of their most trusted veterans, multiple key defensive wings, and a collection of their best playmakers. They played their 18th consecutive game without a natural point guard.

There’s no indication the likes of Jrue Holiday, Matisse Thybulle and Scoot Henderson are returning anytime soon.

When is it going to end?

The last two nights have been especially hard to swallow as the games have followed eerily similar scripts filled with double-digit comebacks, fourth-quarter leads and, ultimately, late-game flubs.

Another errant free throw in the final minute didn’t help — Shaedon Sharpe missed one of two with 38.9 seconds left — but the dagger came when Avdija missed a game-tying three-pointer with 9.7 seconds left. The play was drawn up during a timeout and came on a side inbound. Avdija curled around a screen on the perimeter, collected a pass from Toumani Camara and launched a leaning 30-footer.

It bounced off the backboard, Anthony Black corralled the rebound and that was a wrap on another tough Blazers loss.

Afterward, when acting Blazers coach Tiago Splitter addressed a solemn locker room, he felt the need to pick up the room.

“Keep your heads up,” Splitter told his team. “You guys fought. You guys were there. You guys competed. I’m proud of you.”

Then he made a promise.

“I told them that this work, this effort, is going to pay off sooner or later,” Splitter said. “It doesn’t matter who is playing — two ways — It doesn’t matter what … name is on the back of the jersey. We’re competing. We’re playing together. That was the message tonight.”

Portland has played 20 games featuring “clutch-time” minutes this season, tied for second-most in the NBA, and they’ve managed a 9-11 record in those games. The 11 defeats are also tied for the second-most in the NBA.

At some point, you have to wonder if this young team is going to break, if the mental anguish of dropping so many nail-biting games is going to become suffocating.

“Never,” Sidy Cissoko said. “We’re still young, right? I’m 21. Shae is 22. Deni is 24. We’re still young. We’ve got time. So, like, it’s a step to success. … I think everybody’s got the same kind of vibes. There’s no fighting … we’re really a family. Everybody’s got each other’s back.”

When is it going to end?

Eventually, one assumes, Holiday will return from his calf injury. And Jerami Grant’s Achilles tendon will heal. And Thybulle’s thumb will recover from surgery. And Henderson will make his season debut.

Until then, there will be more games like the last two, when an undermanned team fights and inspires, but ultimately falls short.

But, perhaps, there will also be more nights when the Blazers lean on these tough times and fulfill Splitter’s promise.

“We have a great group of guys,” Avdija said. “They’re very strong mentally. And I think our team camaraderie is really good. I think we’re getting along with each other really good. We’re talking. Our chemistry is amazing. It’s one of the best chemistry teams that I’ve been on in a while. And I think, as you see, we just continue to fight. We’re not going to back off. And I think this is our identity. We believe in each other, we believe in ourselves as a team. It’s only going to make us better.”