The Portland Trail Blazers accomplished something Wednesday night that they hadn’t done since Feb. 6. They picked up a win over a team with a winning record by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 115-99 at the Moda Center. And in the process, the Blazers gained a game in the Western Conference play-in race. The Dallas Mavericks (33-37) lost 135-131 Wednesday at the Indiana Pacers. That allowed the Phoenix Suns (33-34) to move into a tie with the Mavericks for 10th place after winning 127-121 over the Chicago Bulls (29-40). The 12th-place Blazers (31-39) now trail Dallas and Phoenix by two games with 13 remaining. Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 31 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists. He scored 26 points in the first half. “Deni, he was incredible in that first half,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “He really was. Just the force that he plays with. It has you on your heels.” Anfernee Simons scored 22 points, 17 in the second half. Shaedon Sharpe added 17 . The Blazers lost their two previous meetings with Memphis by a combined score of 257-187. Portland shot just 12 of 88 from three-point range (13.6%) over those two games. Billups said before Wednesday’s third meeting that he liked the shots his team got in both previous matchups with the Grizzlies and hoped to see them again. The Blazers did and took advantage. Portland shot 6 of 15 from three-point range in the first quarter. They hit their 12th three by the 3:42 mark in the second quarter when Duop Reath gave the Blazers a 63-48 lead. To that point, the Blazers were 12 of 24 from beyond the arc. The Blazers, who led 71-58 at halftime, began the third quarter with an 11-3 run that included threes from Simons, Sharpe and Toumani Camara to lead 82-61. Memphis got to within six later in the third quarter. But the Blazers built their lead up to 109-94 with just over five minutes remaining in the game and held on from there, winning the final quarter 19-10. “I thought we just stayed locked in even when we made mistakes,” Billups said. “And obviously, having a big-time defensive fourth quarter was huge for us, especially when they came out very aggressive in that third quarter.” The Blazers ended the night 18 of 46 from three-point range (39.1%). Desmond Bane led Memphis with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Grizzlies shot 26.7% from beyond the arc (8 of 30). The Blazers outrebounded Memphis 65-40. “We knew that we needed to rebound,” Billups said. “This team crashes more than anybody in the league. We had a huge, huge night on the glass … To me, that was where the game started and allowed us to kind of get a cushion.” WHAT IT MEANS It can no longer be said that the Blazers’ last win over a winning team came on Feb. 6 over Sacramento. Getting that out of the way was important for the Blazers, who will need to defeat additional winning teams to have a shot at overtaking the Suns and Grizzlies. Memphis (43-27) fell to fifth place behind the Los Angeles Lakers (43-25), who defeated the Denver Nuggets (44-26). CAMARA RETURNS Toumani Camara returned after missing Monday’s win over the Washington Wizards with a right calf soreness. Camara started and in 32 minutes scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. CLINGAN AND REATH COME THROUGH The Blazers have missed the presence of Deandre Ayton, who has been out 14 games with a calf injury. But on several nights, rookie center Donovan Clingan and Duop Reath have replicated Ayton’s production. Wednesday was one of those nights. Clingan started and scored seven points with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 26 minutes. Reath came off the bench to produce 13 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. He shot 5 of 9 from the field. The Blazers host the Nuggets at 7 p.m. Friday. -- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)