PORTLAND – When Luka Doncic showed up in the postgame press conference room following Saturday’s 131-120 victory over
the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center, he had a very special little present with him.
He was toting the game ball.
Mavs forward Markieff Morris said: “He deserves it every game.”
Indeed he does.
Doncic put on one of those eye-popping performances for the ages against the Blazers as the finished with 40 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in racking up his 61st career triple-double. He also posted his eighth career 40-point triple-double, giving him one more than the great Wilt Chamberlain.
In addition, this was the 79th time Doncic has scored 35 or more points in a game. That is atop the Mavs’ all-time franchise chart, one more than Dirk Nowitzki had.
“When you talk about someone who passed Dirk for the most 35-point games, Dirk played for 100 years and Luka has played for six,” coach Jason Kidd said. “That’s how good (Doncic) is. And then you talk about passing Wilt for the most 40-point triple-doubles. 
That’s special.
“I’ve said this from Day One — and will continue — is that we can’t take him for granted. He’s special. He goes out there and put his teammates in a position to be successful.”
The Mavs were so successful against Portland that they’re now 16-9 overall and in third place in the Western Conference. They also own the NBA’s best road record at 9-4 going into Monday’s game in Denver against the defending world champion Nuggets.
From the start of this game until it ended, Doncic ran circles around the Blazers. The six-year veteran scored 22 points in the first quarter – it ended with the Mavs trailing, 39-36 – on 7-of-11 shots.
Doncic kept applying immense pressure as he tossed in 30 points by halftime, and already had his triple-double – 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists – before the third quarter was history.
“It’s not easy, trust me,” said Doncic, who has a franchise record 30-plus points in 10 straight games. “I’m just trying to read the game. I always accept what the defense gives me. I look at what they’re doing.
“They let me play a lot of minutes, but I’ve been feeling good. I’m just out there playing basketball, so I’ve been feeling great.”
Doncic was 15-of-28 from the field in 37 minutes, and drew the admiration of Morris, who said: “I don’t see why he’s not No. 1 in the running for MVP. I just don’t get it, because he’s carrying our team in scoring, rebounding and assists on a nightly basis.
“I played with some great players, but when I tell you the game is just so easy to him. I’ve never seen nobody damn near walk through the game. He plays the same way in practice. It’s just his skill.”
The Mavs led by as many as 18 points (86-68) with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter following a basket by Dante Exum. But the Blazers chopped the deficit to seven points (127-120) when Malcolm Brogdon scored with a little over a minute left.
However, a lob dunk by Jones via a pass from Morris a short time later put this game on ice and left the Blazers with a 6-18 record. On the game-sealing dunk, Jones said: “I was over in the corner, so it was either me take the shot or get a wide-open dunk. To be honest with you, I’m not going to turn down a dunk ever.”
Besides Doncic, the Mavs received major contributions from Tim Hardaway Jr. (25 points, six rebounds), Exum (18 points), Derrick Jones Jr. (18 points) and Morris (10 points, five rebounds) Meanwhile, Anfernee Simons (33 points, eight rebounds) and Jerami Grant (27 points, five boards) led the Blazers.
The only blemish for the Mavs was a first-quarter sprained left ankle rookie center Dereck Lively II suffered that ended his night. X-rays, however, were negative.
It was a nice bounce-back game for the Mavs following Thursday’s disappointing 119-101 loss at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“There’s a lot of character in that locker room, and a lot of trust,” Kidd said. “Chemistry, too, is high. When your leader is always ready to play, it’s easy to follow.
“Bounce back game from playing Minnesota — I thought the guys responded. I thought Markieff was great when Lively went down. I thought the bench was great — 52 points from the bench today. Normally it’s the starters who kind of carry the load
, but tonight you saw the bench was big.”
And it doesn’t hurt to have a player the caliber of Doncic to help carry the load. Even when he gets double-team, Doncic is tall enough to see over the defense and find an open teammate.
“And I can take some rest, too,” Doncic said. “It’s amazing. It’s 4-on-3 basketball, the court is wide open, so we scored a lot of points.
“I think we can score more. When they double me, I like it.”
Jones, who played for the Blazers during the 2020-21 season, finished the night 6-of-11 from the field and kept converting crucial baskets.
“Personally, it’s not about the city that I’m playing,” he said. “I’m just always glad to have a good game whenever I have a good game no matter where I’m at.”
And the Mavs are just glad to have Doncic on their roster. Especially after the masterpiece he created against the Blazers.
“I don’t know if you guys were seeing it, but even when they made the run he brought the team together,” Kidd said. “You can see the maturity.
“There’s no panic with this young man, so it’s pretty special to watch on a daily (basis). We’re lucky as coaches and teammates to be able to watch him play.”
As for why the Mavs have been such a juggernaut on the road this season, Kidd offered a simple explanation.
“Maybe because we feel like we’ve been on the road the whole season so far,” he said. “That’s true. If you’re going to play most of your games on the road, you might have to try to figure out how win them.
“We started outside the country (in preseason in Abu Dhabi). Guys are comfortable on the road. This is a close-knit group, so it’s pretty cool.”
Doncic agreed, saying: “It’s us against the whole gym, so we just stay together. I think with any good team, no matter if things look good or bad you’ve got to stay together.”
Doncic helps make sure of that and the way he’s been playing all season, he deserves a lot of game balls.
X: @DwainPrice
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