August 14, 2020 | 12:00am | Updated August 14, 2020 | 12:02am

The Trail Blazers were playing for their playoff lives. The Nets were playing for nothing but pride, and rhythm. And the Nets gave the Blazers everything they could handle, right down to Caris LeVert’s last-second shot that just rimed out.

The Nets — who already clinched a first-round playoff meeting with defending champion Toronto — fell 134-133 in a game that put Portland into a two-game play-in series against the Grizzlies and knocked the Suns, despite going 8-0 in the restart, out of the playoff hunt.

Damian Lillard had a game-high 42 points, and CJ McCollum had 25, including a bucket that put Portland up 134-130 in the final minute. The Nets closed within one on a LeVert three-point play, but — after forcing a missed Carmelo Anthony 3 — couldn’t get the last basket.

LeVert had 37 points and nine assists, while Joe Harris and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 19 each.

“We can’t think about the basketball machinations. That’s not on us to be involved in. It’s about the Brooklyn Nets, our organization, what’s going to be best for this group moving forward, how we continue to have rhythm and keep our guys healthy,” said Jacque Vaughn, whose Nets went a surprising 5-3 in the restart.

Jarrett Allen attempts to block a shot during the Nets' 134-133 loss to the Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
Jarrett Allen attempts to block a shot during the Nets’ 134-133 loss to the Trail Blazers on Thursday night.AP

“Really we wanted to get through this game before we progress to the next phase. Overall this team has continued to be resilient, be adaptable, be flexible and really look at our sentence. This is a comma, we haven’t put a period on the end of our sentence. So that’s the challenge for these guys, to continue to write their story.”

Despite a decimated roster, the Nets have been one of the bigger bubble surprises. Vaughn will reportedly face competition from the likes of Ty Lue, Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy to keep the job.

“At this point, it’d be completely unfair to comment on any of those reports. The focus should remain on what we’re doing here and what Jacque and what this coaching staff are doing. Our emphasis to be quite frank is on the playoffs,” GM Sean Marks said on YES. “We’ll address this after the season, but our focus purely right now is on this group of young men and this staff that’s sacrificing to be down here.”

The Nets fell behind by nine early in the third quarter. But Jusuf Nurkic and Anthony both picked up pivotal fourth fouls, and the Nets punished Portland.

Trailing 84-76 after a Hassan Whiteside tip-in with 8:42 left in the third, the Nets held Portland without a basket for 4:36 and reeled off a 15-1 run.

Consecutive tip-ins by Jarrett Allen and Rodions Kurucs gave the Nets a lead, and free throws by Garrett Temple padded it to 91-85. By the time Nurkic finally broke the run on a tip-in, the Nets had seized momentum with 4:06 in the third quarter.

The Nets led by 104-97 going into the fourth. They gave up a 20-12 run, watching Portland go ahead on a Lillard 3. But lay-ups by Harris and Temple, followed by a hook from Allen put the Nets ahead 122-117 with 5:15 to play.

With the game tied at 130-all with two minutes left on a Harris bucket, Nurkic’ basket broke the tie. The Nets committed back-to-back turnovers, with Lillard stealing the ball and McCollum putting Portland up by four with 53 seconds left in the game.