The Dallas Mavericks had not won eight in a row at home since the year they won the NBA championship. On Tuesday night, they matched that mark and continued their upward trajectory in the rugged Western Conference.
Luka Doncic scored 21 points and Wesley Matthews added 17 as the Mavericks won for the ninth time in 11 games, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 111-102.
DeAndre Jordan added 12 points and 17 rebounds for Dallas, who won their eighth in a row at American Airlines Center for the first time since March 2011 — three months before they defeated Miami for the franchise’s only NBA title.
Photo: AFP
“To be the team we want to be, we have to win the games at home,” Matthews said. “Our attention to defense is what’s really doing it for us.”
That defense made it difficult for Portland’s vaunted backcourt. Damian Lillard had 33 points, but shot 10 of 23 from the field and two of eight on treys. His 11-for-12 shooting from the line helped his total.
C.J. McCollum added 18 points for the Blazers, but made just seven of 19 shots and two of seven treys.
“Our guys did a great job executing the defensive game plan,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “Which was not an easy game plan, because we were chasing guys who are great players 30 to 40 feet away from the basket.”
Lillard scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half as Portland tried, but failed, to rally from a deficit that was mostly double digits through almost all the first three quarters.
“It’s an uphill battle,” Lillard said. “I thought we still had a chance. When you create a hole, you got to fight out of it so hard to get there, you put yourself in a position where you got to be perfect down the stretch.”
The Mavericks closed out the first quarter with a 17-3 run and held a double-digit lead until Lillard’s drive and free throw made it 78-69 late in the third.
Dwight Powell hit consecutive three-pointers and Maxi Kleber followed a Devin Harris miss with a dunk to put Dallas up by 14 after three quarters.
J.J. Barea’s driving layup capped a 10-0 run that gave the Mavericks their biggest lead at 92-73.
Portland got as close as six points in the game’s final minutes, but Doncic hit a fall-away three-pointer with 58.9 seconds to go for a 108-99 lead.
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