For the Dallas Mavericks, the Portland Trail Blazers popped up on their schedule at just the right time.
One night after suffering a horrific 130-92 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Mavs went out and punished the Blazers, winning, 132-112, Wednesday night at the Moda Center. It was the Mavs’ way of saying those Mavs who showed up in San Francisco on Tuesday night were mere imposters.
“I think sometimes the schedule can help you or hurt you, and this one helped us by having a game where we didn’t have to sit around and look at each other after (Tuesday) night’s performance,” coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s really simple as I said before the game: If you’re unselfish, communicate and play hard, you put yourself in position to win.”
How glad were the Mavs to quickly get back on the court so they could forget about the game against the Warriors? They scored 40, 28, 30 and 34 points, respectively, in Wednesday’s four quarters.
Here are our five takeaways from the 20-point victory over the Blazers.
BRUNSON’S FOURTH QUARTER: Any thoughts the Blazers had about putting on a late rally and possibly stealing the game in the fourth quarter were quickly quashed by Jalen Brunson. After Ben McLemore nailed back-to-back three-pointers to get Portland within 98-88 with 11:15 remaining, Brunson put his hard hat on and went to work. From the 10:09 mark of the fourth quarter to the 5:43 mark, the Mavs outscored the Blazers, 21-11. And 18 of those points were directly generated by Brunson. During that game-deciding stretch, Brunson scored 11 points, and also dispensed three assists that accounted for seven other points. Game, set, match. Brunson wound up with 20 points, six rebounds and a career-high tying 11 assists. It’s the first 20-plus points, 10-plus assists game of Brunson’s career. Combined with Luka Doncic’s 15 assists, Brunson and Doncic are the first Mavs’ teammates to each have 10-plus assists in the same game since March 29, 2010, when Jason Kidd (10) and Dirk Nowitzki (1o) did it in a 16-point win over Denver.
BALANCED SCORING: Coaches – and players alike – love it when a laundry list of players get to tickle the twine over and over again during the course of a game. That was certainly the case Wednesday as seven Mavs scored in double figures. And two others — Josh Green and Frank Ntilikina — came close with nine and eight points, respectively. That’s the definition of spreading the wealth. An offensive attack of this nature causes defenses fits. They don’t know to stop the leaks, because water is leaking all over the place. It’s the fourth time the Mavs have scored at least 130 points in a game this season, and the second time in a month they’ve scored 132 points against Portland. They also shot 54.5 percent from the field, converted 16-of-36 three-pointers and distributed 34 assists.
DONCIC DOMINANT IN MANY WAYS: It’s no secret that Luka Doncic can beat a team in a lot of different ways. He’s like a quarterback who can win games with both his arm and with his legs. Or like a baseball player who can hit with power, spray the ball all over the field, and steal bases. That’s Luka Doncic. And from his perspective, he’ll decide how he wants to slice and dice up an opponent on a given night. On Wednesday, Doncic chose to pick the Blazers apart with his deft passes. And he threw so many dead-eye cross-court dimes he could easily have been mistaken for Patrick Mahomes. When it was all over, Doncic had skillfully carved out a Jason Kidd-like 15-10-15 triple-double – his sixth of the season and No. 42 of his illustrious career. Doncic has two games this season with a triple-double that involves 15 assists. The rest of the NBA players also has two of these this season.
BOUNCE BACK GAME: Anyone who thought the Mavs’ 38-point loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night would
haunt them during Wednesday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, think again. This year’s Mavs are built from a different type of material. They don’t get too high on their wins or too low on their losses. Sure, the Mavs were extremely upset with their performance against a Warriors’ team they beat by 17 points and held to just 82 points – a Warriors’ low this season – on Jan. 5. And the next opponent on the schedule had to pay. That next team was the Blazers. It was almost as if what the Warriors did to the Mavs, the Mavs did to the Blazers.
PORZINGIS SET THE TONE: One day after punting the basketball into the stands during a most frustrating performance in San Francisco, Kristaps Porzingis came out Wednesday with a chip on his shoulders and wanted to set the record straight. With redemption on his mind, an aggressive-minded Porzingis scored 14 points in the first quarter that included four dunks and a glaring look that could take down a tiger. Whether Porzingis was still mad at himself for kicking the ball into the stands — or mad that the NBA fined him a $15,000 for that transgression — his punt, uh, point, was well taken. Porzingis finished with 22 points, five rebounds and five dunks.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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