Doncic, Wood Combine For 65 in Mavs' Blowout of Blazers
Coming off a deflating blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks bounced back in a big way on Friday night by blowing out Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers, 130-110. Dallas improved to 15-14 on the year, and Portland dropped to 16-13. The Mavs are 2-0 against the Trail Blazers this season.
Luka Doncic and Christian Wood played like a superstar duo in this one, as they combined for 65 points. Doncic finished with a team-high 33 points, six rebounds and nine assists in just three quarters of action. He shot 11-18 from the field, including 5-9 from deep and 6-7 from the free-throw line.
The high point – quite literally – of Doncic's night came in the third quarter when his got the American Airlines Center crowd on its feet with an incredible dunk to put an exclamation point on his performance.
"I'm used to that now. I probably have the most bounce on the team," Doncic joked – at least we think he joked – after the game.
Wood finished with 32 points in 30 minutes off the bench. He shot 11-17 shooting from the field and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. With Dwight Powell going down with an injury mid-game, Wood's heightened production was much needed. He is playing like a starting caliber player, so we'll see if he finally gets a chance to start alongside Doncic if Powell misses extended time. Coach Jason Kidd might not have any other choice at this point.
Doncic and Wood became the first pair of Mavericks teammates to each score 30+ points since Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis did it on Nov. 12, 2021.
Lillard led the way for Portland with 24 points in 24 minutes of action, but Dallas was able to contain him to just 6-14 shooting on the night. Jerami Grant, who lit up the Mavs for 37 points in their first matchup, only scored seven points on Friday.
Next up, the Mavs will take on the Cavs once again. This time, though, it will be on the road, as well as on the second night of a back-to-back. Luckily for Dallas, its starters got to rest at the end of the win over Portland, and Cleveland had a tough game against the Indiana Pacers on Friday as well.
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