Field Level Media
Feb 14, 2021
Damian Lillard scored 34 points, dished 11 assists, and made the decisive 3-pointer as the Portland Trail Blazers weathered 44 points from Luka Doncic to beat the host Dallas Mavericks 121-118 on Sunday.
Portland took a 13-point lead with 6:50 left when Enes Kanter scored two of his 14 points, but a scoring drought of more than five minutes resulted in a 12-0 Mavericks' run.
Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a 3-pointer on one of Doncic's nine assists with 49.5 seconds remaining, forcing a tie at 116. Finney-Smith finished with 14 points.
His basket set the stage for Lillard's go-ahead 3-pointer, a top-of-the-key step-back in isolation with Finney-Smith defending with 32.8 seconds left.
Doncic responded with a quick dunk, but Carmelo Anthony beat Doncic on the other end to draw out Kristaps Porzingis. Anthony fired a no-look pass to Derrick Jones Jr. for an uncontested layup and the game's final points.
Doncic got a wide-open look at a would-be, game-tying 3-pointer off of a sideline inbounds play, but the shot rimmed off.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Mavericks, while extending the Trail Blazers' own streak to four games. The win kicks off a swing of three consecutive road games, and six of seven away from home for Portland.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 17 points for the Trail Blazers and Robert Covington added 15 along with four steals. Anthony scored 15 points off the bench, and Anfernee Simons notched another 12 points in reserve.
Porzingis scored 18 points for Dallas and matched Kanter's game-high with eight rebounds. One game removed from hitting a career-high eight 3-pointers, however, Porzingis went 0-for-3 from long range.
Portland outshot Dallas as a team from beyond the 3-point arc, 18 of 40 to 14 of 41. The Trail Blazers were 45 of 85 (52.9 percent) from the floor in total to the Mavericks' 40 of 81 (49.4 percent). Dallas missed just one free throw, going 24 of 25 from the line. Portland made just 13 of 19 free-throw attempts.
--Field Level Media