of portland trailblazers Saturday night, Luka Doncic and Dallas MavericksConfidence was scarce for Portland after a five-game losing streak. Dallas has his 24-19 record, and Doncic’s scoring average of 37.5 against the Blazers this year has been a lot of punch.
However, it didn’t matter what each team had in their bag at tip-off. Portland held on midway through the third period thanks to a strong inside-out offense, Damien Lillard’s 36 points for him, and a huge energy playmaking by his players Josh Hart and Gary Payton II who rolled his defensive boost. Got this game.
Every player with a say played free and Portland won 136-119. Lillard scored 11-20 from the field and 10-10 from the foul line, and Glenn he surpassed Rice, joining Julius Erving for 74th place on the NBA all-time leading scorers list. Anfernie Simmons marked his 6-6 off the foul line off a strong commitment to the lane, scoring 21 points on a 6-12 shot. Yusuf Nurkic shot 3-of-5 on his 3-point range, and overall he shot 9-of-15, adding 22 points and 11 rebounds to the Portland offense.
Doncic only scored 15 points after losing on a 7-19 shoot. He recorded 10 assists. Both bad shooting and overzealous passing were by-products of Portland’s ferocious attack on him.
The two teams combined 92-170 shooting from the field and 39-87 shooting from the arc to deliver offensive jackpots.
first quarter
The first period got off to a rough start for the Blazers. Josh Hart’s mistakes across the arc and Hart’s and Jerami Grant’s traveling violations accounted for his three of his four possessions in the opening. The Mavs hit a pair of 3s on the other side and in his first three minutes he took an 8-4 lead. Then the building suddenly came to life when Yusuf Nurkic leaped over the horizon like Superman and hit a three to quickly pull the Blazers back.
In the process, the Blazers, trying to solve the problem with Luka Doncic, charged him as soon as he reached near the top of the arc (or caught below). They stalled Doncic a bit, but Anfanie Simmons also picked up two quick fouls in the process.
But Damian Lillard didn’t wait for his team to get into trouble before providing the groundwork for the win and started stirring up points on the other side. He scored his 9-0 Portland run that gave the Blazers spirit. The Mavericks’ few strikes hurt, but Dallas needed those shots to catch up rather than get ahead.
A Dallas three-pointer threw them out in the mid-quarter section. When they ran plays, they tended to be successful. Instead, they calmed down. Portland scored those attempts, grabbed the rebounds with ease, and turned those carroms into surprisingly quick offense. Lillard kept pouring it. Hart finally found success with the break. The Blazers were attacking with great style.
A long triple eventually started to fall on the Mavs and kept them in contact, but there was no question which one was scoring better. I did it. The turnover also helped dull the power of the Mavericks’ barrage. Dallas eventually hit eight threes in the period, including two in the final 30 seconds from Davis Bertans and Frank Ntilikina, but 11 points from Lillard matched that well. His eight fast breaks from the Blazers as well as his points. Portland took his 31-30 lead.
Second quarter
Gary Payton II was disruptive as the second period began and stabbed a steal into a running chance. Simmons came back and hit his shot nice across his break in the quarter. Dallas also offered no threat on the grass at all, allowing Portland to rebound, pivot and run instantly. Never attached and continued to attack the rim. Shadon Sharp enjoyed a freewheeling offense, especially when approaching the rim. In the second he was just past 4:00 as the Blazers led him 10, 46-36.
Hart continued to play an active role in pushing the tempo in the middle section of the period as Eubanks collected defensive stops like cannonballs on the beach. Despite Dallas scoring on a non-Eubanks try, the Blazers maintained their lead at 6–8. They attacked the rim first, targeting jumpers from passouts rather than keeping the ball on the perimeter. This was the case with Lillard, Simmons, Hart, and just about everyone who led the attack on Portland.
When Lillard Really Started converting On those drives, things got dire for Dallas. Dame converted Andwan with 2:48 remaining and sent Mavericks center Dwight Powell to the bench for his fourth foul, giving Portland a 62–49 lead. Incredibly, Lillard had two more relatively uncontested shots in that quarter (and his two free throws), and he scored 24 in the half, as the Blazers scored Inter. In the mission he had a 71-56 lead.
third quarter
When the Blazers started the third period with a chip shot from Josh Hart, a 3 from Lillard, and an alley-oop lay-in from Yusuf Nurkic to Jerami Grant, the Mavericks weren’t interested in defending well. It was clear… Start a comeback. Reggie Bullock hit in corner 3 and Doncic laid up on Nurkic but needed them to keep the pace.
Hart continued to play a central role in the offense, both in set-up and finishing, halfcourt and break. The Blazers appeared to be making a concerted effort as he swiss army his knife forward small in critical situations.
Brock continued a game long hot streak from 3 as the period progressed. Doncic has a shot. When he got hot, Spencer Dinwiddie used his size for everything but ignoring Blazers defenders. All of this combined was enough to bring Portland’s dominance down to him 11, 95-84 with him 3:00 left in the period.
However, Mabus did not come close. Good ball movement at halfcourt, much of it caused by Payton in the absence of Damian Lillard, gave the Blazers an open lane and even wider open threes. Within two minutes, the Blazers had returned the lead to 18. They finished the period with him 106-90.
4th quarter
Jusuf Nurkic’s 3 was Portland’s opening play of the fourth period. Their next play went like this:
- Jusuf Nurkic hit another three-pointer.
- Jabari Walker took an aggressive rebound, cut under the bucket and tried to put it back up, but instead took it off the bottom of the backboard.
- Walker threw again against three defenders, but it flew completely over the basket and had no chance of success.
- Nurkic worked here and there, grabbed it from the air and stuffed it into the house.
Shadon Sharp then hit an open three and Nurkic slammed another dunk on the break.
Are the Mavericks back? No, it wasn’t.
Doncic did his best, pouring in points and dishing out assists as if he was trying to make an All-Star team or something, but the lead was too big, Dwight Powell’s foul total was too high, and Portland’s energy was down. was too dominant to make a dent in Dallas.
With 7:00 remaining, Lillard and Doncic were a bit scrapped on the sidelines before Lillard drove hard and converted a short layup. This gave Dame a commanding lead of his 36 points and Portland his 21 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. was escorted to the locker room with his ankle injury, capping off a completely awful night for the Mavs. With Dallas surrendering, the bench emptied and Nurkic hit a few more shots for fun.
next
Stay tuned for a deeper analysis of the game coming soon!
The Blazers will line up for another game tomorrow at 6:00 pm PT against the Mavericks.
