PORTLAND, Ore. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Forward Dorian Finney-Smith was out when the Dallas Mavericks fell to Portland last week… but he’s back and it showed on defense.
Offensively, Luka Doncic scored 37 points in three quarters, and helped lead the Mavs to a 132-92 rout of the Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
Doncic made his first eight 3-point shots and finished with 8-for-9 shooting from long distance. Overall, he shot 13 of 19 from the field and added seven rebounds and four assists.
Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers handles the ball against Luka Doncic #77 and Dorian Finney-Smith #10 of the Dallas Mavericks on March 21, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. (credit: Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Josh Richardson scored 21 points, Finney-Smith added 13 and Kristaps Porzingis 12 for the Mavericks.
Damian Lillard led Portland with 19 points, and Gary Trent Jr. added 16. CJ McCollum finished with 13.
“Anytime me, CJ (McCollum) and (Carmelo Anthony) go 0 for 16 from 3, we’re not going to have much of a chance,” Lillard said.
“We shifted our concentration onto our defensive game plan, our offensive gameplay and unconditionally helping each other out there and turning the attention away from the officials,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Dorian Finney-Smith got the defensive belt tonight for his effort holding Lillard to a very reasonable number, and everybody else did a great job as well. It’s obviously a great effort by our guys, a great bounce-back from a disappointment a couple of nights ago.”
Dallas’ Boban Marjanovic, who sat our Friday’s game, took advantage of his opportunity to make an impact.
After Portland had a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass on Friday, Marjanovic’s presence helped tipped the scales in favor of the Mavericks in just five minutes of action. Marjanovic finished with two points and two rebounds but helped prevent Portland center Enes Kanter from dominating the boards. Dallas outrebounded the Blazers 52-33 overall.
The Mavericks made 19 3-pointers. Portland was unable to keep pace as the Trail Blzers shot 20% from the 3-point arc and made only nine shots from long distance.
A Doncic 3-pointer gave the Mavericks a 76-54 lead, forcing a Blazers timeout with 8:47 left in the third quarter. Dallas started the third quarter on a 19-0 run. A three-point play by McCollum stopped Portland’s third quarter drought, which lasted 5:37.
“I don’t know how I characterize that,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “It was not our night in the 3rd quarter. 19-0 speaks for itself.”
The Mavericks led 103-69 at the end of the third quarter. The Blazers took Lillard out of the game after the third quarter.
Dallas led by as many as 45 at one point.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
