PORTLAND – From an offensive standpoint, the Dallas Mavericks did everything any NBA team needed to do to win a game.
The Mavs scored 119 points, they shot 52.4 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from three-point range. They even doled out 28 assists.
Unfortunately, the Mavs forgot one important facet of the game. They forgot to play some defense.
Utilizing a defense that made Luka Doncic look like a mere mortal, the Portland Trail Blazers rode 36 points by Damian Lillard to a 136-119 triumph over the Mavs on Saturday night at the Moda Center. The win snapped a five-game losing streak by the Blazers (20-22), while the loss dropped the Mavs to 24-20 heading into Sunday’s 8 p.m. game against the Blazers in the same arena.
The Blazers simply decided to double Luka Doncic and take the ball out of his hands almost every time he touched it. That meant Portland was willingly prepared to take a risk that the Mavs weren’t going to defeat them — unless Doncic was heavily involved in the scoring.
That strategy worked as Portland built a 71-56 lead at halftime, while Doncic only scored a pedestrian five points on just 2-of-8 shooting in the first half.
It was the fewest points Doncic has scored in the first half this season, although he also was limited to just three points in the second half of the Jan. 5 game against the Boston Celtics. Doncic’s previous low first-half scoring total this season was seven points, which he scored against Washington on Nov. 10.
Doncic finished with a season-low 15 points in 36 minutes. He also was 7-of-19 from the field, 0-of-5 from three-point land and 1-of-6 at the free throw line, and he also collected six rebounds and 10 assists.
“They blitzed (Donic) on every pick-and-roll,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought, again, his reads were good. He only had one turnover. We made shots.
“It wasn’t so much our offense. It was our defense. We didn’t participate tonight (on defense). We got to do a little bit better.”
One bright spot was Reggie Bullock, who did way better than he’s done at any point in his career, but it still wasn’t enough. Bullock tickled the twine for 24 points, including massively going 8-of-10 from three-point range. The eight made threes are a career-high for Bullock.
The 119 points the Mavs scored were the most they’ve accumulated this season in a regulation game and they didn’t win that contest. The Mavs shot a comfortable 52.4 percent from the field and an aggressive 47.8 percent from beyond the three-point line, while the Blazers made 55.7 percent of their field goals and 41.5 percent of their shots from downtown.
“They shot the ball well and we shot the ball well,” Kidd said. “No one was really stopping anyone, but they made more shots tonight and they were the better team.”
Doncic thought the Mavs’ defense was unacceptable.
“We had bad defense,” Doncic said. “Today, they could pass by us and it (wasn’t) a pretty defensive night.”
Had Christian Wood been present, he may have made a difference. However. Wood sat out with a sprained right ankle he incurred this past Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“He’s there to protect him,” Doncic said. “He helps us a lot. On both sides – offense and defense.”
Doncic, who played a career-high 53 minutes against the Lakers, only played a more manageable 36 minutes against the Warriors.
“They were doubling me almost every possession, but I think our offense wasn’t really the problem,” Doncic said. “We got great shots, open looks, so we just got to get better on the defensive end.”
Defense is the calling card from Bullock, who promptly lit up the room floor and tried to make life simpler for defenders.
Not only were they without Wood, Doncic also bristled at the notion that the Mavs were fatigued after playing that long game on Thursday against the Lakers.
“I can’t make excuses,” Doncic. “We’ve got one day to rest. We just got one more day next.”
The Blazers kept on coming until they built a 26-point lead.
The Mavs definitely needed help on the boards as the Blazers won the rebounding battle, 47-25.
The Mavs also were without Josh Green (sprained right elbow), Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor strain) and Dwight Powell (right hamstring tear).
“Hopefully we do get heathy soon,” Kidd said.” But until then, we’ve got to play within the guys that are in uniform.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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