Lillard leads Blazers past reeling Mavs
Damian Lillard scored 33 points and handed out 12 assists as the Portland Trail Blazers knocked off the visiting Dallas Mavericks 126-118 Wednesday night.
Six players scored in double figures for the Trail Blazers, including Seth Curry with 20 off the bench. It was the fifth win in six games for Portland.
Luka Doncic scored 24 points and Justin Jackson contributed 21 for the Mavericks, who have lost 14 of their last 16 outings.
Lillard had 16 points and nine assists as Portland seized a 65-52 lead at intermission. Jackson scored 12 points and Doncic 10 for Dallas in the first half.
The teams had almost identical percentages from the field -- 49.5 for Portland, 49.4 for Dallas -- but the Blazers won the game from the 3-point line. They were 16-for-36 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc; the Mavericks hit 10 of 30 such attempts.
Portland dominated the boards 48-35, with Jusuf Nurkic and Enes Kanter each grabbed 10 rebounds. The two Blazer centers combined for 27 points and 20 rebounds in the contest.
The Mavericks trimmed Portland's lead to 67-59 early in the third quarter. The Blazers then stoked the lead up to 89-69 with 4:24 to play in the third. Dallas cut the deficit to 97-83 with 75 seconds left in the quarter, but Portland carried a 101-83 lead into the final period.
The difference was 115-90 with nine minutes to go. Dallas closed the gap to 124-115 on a Jackson layup with 1:21 to play. Jackson's put-back then brought the Mavericks to within 124-117 with 47 seconds remaining.
But Anfernee Simons hit a pair of free throws to give Portland a 126-117 lead with 40.5 ticks left and ensure the win.
Portland went on a 13-0 run to jump ahead 22-10 as Dallas started the game 4-for-16 from the field. The Blazers took a 26-17 lead into the second quarter.
Dallas used a 22-12 spurt to open the second and take a 39-38 advantage midway through the quarter before Portland again took control before the half.
--Field Level Media
