Luka Doncic made a career-best eight 3-pointers and recorded 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 120-112 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Tim Hardaway Jr. made five 3-pointers while scoring 29 points, and Seth Curry tallied 16 points off the bench as the Mavericks won their fourth straight game. Jalen Brunson added 13 points and Maxi Kleber scored 10 for Dallas.
Lillard's efforts in vain
Portland's Damian Lillard registered 34 points and 10 assists in his clash with Doncic. Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points, Hassan Whiteside had 21 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Kent Bazemore added 11 points for the Trail Blazers.
Anthony became the 18th player in NBA history to top 26,000 points. His total sits at 26,014. Portland's CJ McCollum departed the game in the second quarter due to a sprained left ankle. He had four points in 12 minutes before exiting.
Kristaps Porzingis (knee) missed his 10th straight game for Dallas. Dallas shot 43.8 percent from the field and made 20 of 47 3-point attempts. The Trail Blazers shot 51.8 percent but were just 9 of 30 from behind the arc as their two-game winning streak ended.
Portland trimmed a 17-point, third-quarter deficit to 102-98 on Whiteside's basket with 7:25 left in the contest. Curry later drained a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 110-102 advantage with 5:08 remaining. The Trail Blazers moved within 115-109 on Bazemore's basket with 3:41 remaining before both teams went scoreless for 2 1/2 minutes.
Doncic heroics
Doncic then put the game away with a layup with 1:10 left and a 27-foot 3-pointer with 46.1 seconds remaining to make it an 11-point margin. Hardaway scored 15 points in the third quarter as Dallas led by the same amount at the conclusion as it did at the start of the frame — nine points.
The Mavericks led 91-74 with 4:27 remaining in the third after Hardaway and Curry made consecutive 3-pointers before Portland cut into the margin. Bazemore knocked down a 3-pointer just before time expired in the quarter to pull the Trail Blazers within 98-89.
Doncic made six 3-pointers in the first half and scored 23 points for the Mavericks, who took a 72-63 lead into the break. Lillard scored 25 in the half.
