Luka Doncic’s Mavs Start Mini-Series With Blowout Loss vs. Trail Blazers

The Dallas Mavericks (24-20) and Portland Path Blazers (20-22) started the primary recreation of a two-part mini-series on Saturday. “Rip Metropolis” got here away with the 136-119 victory. 

It was a troublesome recreation for Luka Doncic, who had logged 96 complete minutes over his final two performances coming into this recreation. To make issues worse, Christian Wooden was dominated out on account of a sprained ankle earlier than tipoff. Doncic completed with simply 15 factors, six rebounds, and 10 assists. He shot 7-19 from the ground, 0-5 from the 3-point line, and 1-6 from the free throw line. 

It was a detailed recreation within the early going, with the Path Blazers holding a 31-30 lead on the finish of the opening interval. Within the second quarter, Portland outscored the Mavs by a 14-point margin to take full management coming into halftime. Dallas didn’t make a dent within the deficit after the break and trailed 106-90 at the beginning of the ultimate interval. 

With out an outlook to win the sport, the Mavs cleared out their bench with below seven minutes remaining in regulation. With the beginning of the following matchup being lower than 24 hours later, they pulled the plug on this recreation.

The Mavs proved unable to get stops persistently, which comes with out shock with out Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, Josh Inexperienced, or Wooden within the lineup. Dallas typically needed to deploy lineups with uncomfortable guards with out rim safety. 

Making issues worse on the damage entrance, Tim Hardaway Jr. suffered an ankle sprain, leading to him being dominated out for the rest of the sport. A return did not make sense given the dearth of aggressive standing the Mavs confronted, however the damage will probably be one thing to observe. 

Damian Lillard had a powerful efficiency to guide the Path Blazers. He racked up 36 factors, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists to set the tone. Portland recieved double-figure scoring outings from all 5 of its starters with Shaedon Sharpe and Gary Payton II additionally assembly the mark off the bench.

Reggie Bullock set a brand new career-high for made 3-pointers in a single-game by capturing 8-10 from deep. Except for that, there wasn’t a lot for a silver lining for Dallas to lean on within the loss.

The Mavs are again in motion on Sunday after they tackle the Path Blazers once more on the Moda Middle.

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