Doncic-Less Mavs Can't Contain Lillard, Fall to Blazers
The Dallas Mavericks knew things were going to be tougher than ever on Sunday as they took on the Portland Trail Blazers for the second time in as many nights. Dallas got Christian Wood back after he missed Saturday's contest due to an ankle sprain, but it lost Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle sprain) and Luka Doncic (ankle soreness) on the second night of a back-to-back.
Despite a valiant effort from the severely undermanned Mavs, the production of Damian Lillard and the rest of the Blazers' healthy starters proved to be too much. Dallas ultimately fell apart in the fourth and lost to Portland, 140-123. With the loss, the Mavs fell to 24-21 while the Blazers improved to 21-22. The Mavs and Blazers finished their season series with a 2-2 tie.
Filling in as the primary ball-hander with Doncic out, Spencer Dinwiddie stepped up in a big way, as he led the Mavs with 28 points and nine assists while shooting 7-15 from the field and 12-14 from the free-throw line. Christian Wood put up 23 points on just 8-22 shooting, including 1-8 from deep. Wood also reeled in 16 rebounds.
Although the Mavs lost, they saw some good things from promising 20-year-old rookie Jaden Hardy, who finished as the team's second-leading scorer with a career-high 25 points off the bench. Hardy shot 8-17 on the night, grabbed two rebounds and dished out two assists in his 26 minutes.
“I thought [Hardy] was really, really good tonight,” said coach Jason Kidd. “As we get healthy, we'll see how this affects his minutes, but he definitely needs minutes out there."
Hardy explained that scoring is as easy for him as he makes it look.
“(Scoring) is easy, I feel like. That's just me going out there being confident in my abilities, and I feel like nobody can stay in front of me,” said Hardy.
Lillard led the Blazers with 40 points on 10-17 shooting from the field and a perfect 16-16 from the free-throw line. All of Portland's starters combined for 108 points.
Dallas has now lost five of its last seven contests after putting together a season-best seven-game winning streak from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2. The Mavs are still fifth in the Western Conference standings despite their recent skid. A decent push for home-court advantage in the postseason should be in the cards if this team can get healthy in the coming weeks.
The Mavs will now receive a much-needed break, as their next game won't be until Wednesday night at American Airlines Center against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. Reinforcements could be on the way for Dallas in that one, as Doncic should be ready to return after a one-game absence and Josh Green could also be back in action after missing the last 20 games due to an elbow sprain.
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