DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks (21-15) played the Portland Trail Blazers (9-25) for the second time in three days. The Mavs were a little light without Luka Doncic, Dereck Lively II, and Grant Williams. The Mavs blew out Portland on Wednesday 126-97, Friday night was no different Dallas took the ball game 139-103
The good news for the Mavs is Kyrie Irving was able to play tonight and he carried Dallas in the first quarter with 12 points. Dallas took the first quarter up 38-26. The Mavs shot over 60 percent from the floor and won the rebounding game on both offense and defensive boards as well as scored 16 of the 38 points in the paint.
Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped up for the Mavs in the second quarter, he’s currently averaging 17 points per game off the bench which is second best in the NBA. He finished the half with nine, Josh Green added 10 including a buzzer beater shot to finish the half, and Irving finished the half with 15.
Dallas went into the locker room up nine 62-53.
The Mavs shot 55 percent from the floor while Portland shot 40 percent. Dallas scored well more in the paint than the Trail Blazers helping with their higher percentage. They had 28 points in the paint while Portland only had 16.
The Mavs started to pull away midway through the third quarter outscoring Portland 40-16. Green turned on the jets and Jaden Hardy got in on the action as well. It was a very well-rounded quarter for the entire team. The offensive scoring didn’t fall on one single player and all players contributed. Dallas took a 33 point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Mavs played this one out with their bench players for the fourth quarter. They brought this one home, moving to 21-15 this season. This is the second of a seven game home stand for Dallas. They will be back here in American Airlines Center to take on the Timberwolves at 6:30 PM.
