LUKA Doncic scored a game-high 41 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 126-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night in Dallas.
Kyrie Irving added 29 points for the Mavericks, who rebounded from a season-worst 37-point loss to the host Utah Jazz on Monday. Tim Hardaway Jr. netted 14 and Jaden Hardy chipped in 11 points as Dallas never trailed en route to its third win in as many tries against Portland this season.
Shaedon Sharpe paced the Trail Blazers scoring with 16 points, and Anfernee Simons followed with 15. Matisse Thybulle scored 12 points for Portland, which has dropped the first two contests of its seven-game road trip. Jerami Grant and Toumani Camara each finished with 10 points.
The Mavericks started the game on a 9-0 run, beginning the onslaught they inflicted all night. Dallas used a 38-15 second quarter run to match its largest first-half lead at 75-44.
Doncic then completed an and-one opportunity to give him 30 first-half points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field, and gave Dallas its 31-point halftime advantage at 78-47. Irving complemented Doncic’s scoring with 22 points in the half, as Dallas shot 26-for-42 (61.9 percent) from the field.
Portland, which struggled to find a rhythm throughout, made just 16-of-41 shots (39 percent) from the field and committed 14 turnovers in the first half. Sharpe and Simons led the Trail Blazers scoring with 11 points apiece.
The Trail Blazers were more competitive after the break, outscoring Dallas 27-24 in the third quarter, but they entered the fourth quarter trailing 102-74.
A pair of free throws from Mavericks rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper gave Dallas its largest lead of the game, 118-80, with 5:56 left in the game.
Simons returned to the Trail Blazers lineup after a three-game absence due to an illness. The sixth-year shooting guard entered Wednesday averaging a team-high 27.1 points per game.
Wednesday was the front half of a two-game series in Dallas, with the teams to meet again on Friday. — Reuters