Mavericks vs Portland game review

 

On a Sunday night special the Blazers matchup with the Dallas Mavericks went down to the wire but ended up a being a 121-118 win for Portland. Giving the Blazers a 4 game winning streak and a 16-10 record. Damian Lillard set the tone with 34 points and 11 assists in 36 minutes of play time. Although the highlight of the game happened with just over 30 seconds on the clock when Lillard waited until seconds remained to hit a classic one two step back 3 pointer that sank the hearts of everyone of the Mavericks roster. 

"We played the kind of game we played against what we've been up against through the game. It's rewarding in the end." Said Lillard after the matchup

However with 6.9 seconds left of play time Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle had time to draw up one last play for his star Luka Doncic. In an attempt to push Lillard and the Blazers to overtime Luka came off a screen and had an open look at the basket with the shot going in and out. Moving the Mavericks to a 13-15 record and the 10th seed in the Western Conference. And when it comes to Luka's feeling about the end of the game Doncic would say “It didn’t matter if I felt confident or not. I thought it was in. It went in and out, so I was disappointed and that’s on me. I should have hit the shot.”

Despite this Doncic still had a noteworthy performance finishing the game with 44 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Despite his feeling toward his blown opportunity Doncic set a new franchise record with 14 straight games of 25 or more points. And now has a combined 90 points in just his last 2 games.

The 3rd quarter gave Portland momentum to finish the game in a strong manner. At half-time they trailed by 3 points but after the 3rd quarter they were on top by 12. They scored a total of 45 points in the 3rd quarter with the starters for Portland shooting a combined 13/15 from the field out of the break and 7 of 9 from behind the arc.

In all Portland got more production from their bench and role players. With Carmelo having a 15 point night, Robert Covington going 4/4 from behind the arc, Gary Trent Jr. giving in 17 points, Anferne Simons going 4/6 from downtown and a 14 point 8 rebound night for Kanter. On the other hand aside from Luka the Mavericks had everyone else go a combine 9 of 33 from downtown (27.2%) and 26 of 61 from the field (42.6%)

“I’m concerned that the load Doncic is carrying is a difficult load to carry on a game-to-game basis,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ve got to try to get some more balance in our attack. It’s just a lot to ask of Luka to put the 40-point stat-stuffer nights on a night-in, night-out basis.”