Doncic, Hardaway lead Mavericks over Trail Blazers, 120-112
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 35 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 29 and the Dallas Mavericks beat Portland 120-112 on Friday night to avoid getting swept at home by the Trail Blazers.
Doncic, who drained a career-high eight 3-pointers, had eight rebounds and seven assists in the 20-year-old’s first chance to tie Jason Kidd’s career club record of 21 triple-doubles. Doncic has an NBA-best 12 this season.
Damian Lillard scored 34 points and Carmelo Anthony had 22 for the Blazers, who lost guard CJ McCollum to a sprained left ankle in the first half. Hassan Whiteside had 21 points and 18 rebounds.
The Mavericks were without Doncic’s European sidekick, Kristaps Porzingis, for the 10th consecutive game because of right knee soreness. The 7-foot-3 Latvian was ruled out early in the day after being a late scratch Wednesday in Sacramento.
The Mavs kept Portland at a safe distance in the closing minutes after losing 121-119 in Dallas in October when the Blazers got a key reversal on a challenge of a foul call against Lillard in the final seconds.
The Blazers won another challenge to reverse a foul call on Whiteside while trailing by six late in the fourth quarter, but it was right before Portland missed five straight shots in the final three minutes.
Doncic topped his previous career high of seven 3s with a punctuating 27-footer for a 120-109 lead with 46 seconds to go. The Slovenia sensation was 8 of 12 from long range to help the Mavericks finish 20 of 47 from beyond the arc compared to 9 of 30 for Portland, which was coming off an impressive win in Houston.
Seth Curry scored 16 points, including the only two field goals for Dallas in a six-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. Hardaway was 9 of 16 from the field and 5 of 8 from long range.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: F Mario Hezonja returned after missing two games with a back contusion. He scored seven points in 19 minutes. … G Gary Trent Jr. was ruled out by illness in the second half.
Mavericks: Doncic was called for a flagrant foul on what appeared to be an inadvertent elbow to the face of Whiteside when Doncic was driving in the third quarter. Doncic wasn’t pleased with the decision on the review, but Whiteside missed both free throws. … Doncic got fouled on made 3-pointers twice, missing the free throw the first time before making the second one for the four-point play.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: At Oklahoma City on Saturday to finish a back-to-back and a three-game trip.
Mavericks: A three-day break without having to travel before hosting the Clippers on Tuesday.