Dallas Mavs' Luka Doncic Drops 40-Point Triple-Double, Leads Win vs. Portland Trail Blazers
PORTLAND — In a Saturday matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Dallas Mavericks sought to bounce back from losing against the Minnesota Timberwolves in their previous outing. With Luka Doncic's 40-point triple-double setting the tone, the Mavs won 131-120, improving to 16-9 on the season, while Portland dropped to 6-18.
"I don't see why he's not No. 1 in the running for MVP," Mavs forward Markieff Morris said of Doncic. " just don't get it because he's he's carrying our team, scoring, rebounding, and assists on a nightly basis."
The Mavs have emphasized attacking Deandre Ayton in drop coverage and hunting Anfernee Simons in screening actions to give Doncic post-ups against a smaller guard. In the last meeting between these two teams eight days ago, the Blazers were aggressive, blitzing early instead.
"When you look at the drop coverage, if you set a screen and hold the screen, [his] ability to shoot the three, the ability to get to the basket, and then being able to be a threat to pass," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic. "I think that's probably one of his favorite defenses."
With Irving sidelined, the Mavs did show limitations in getting into the offense without Doncic or Exum on the floor. Dallas tried to get into Horns sets as the first quarter progressed but struggled to handle full-court pressure, with Tim Hardaway Jr. bringing the ball up the court for a stretch.
The defense became more aggressive, trying to shrink the floor to prevent Doncic from getting a clean finish at the rim. Dallas attempted to open things up using Stack pick-and-roll by deploying Tim Hardaway Jr. as the back screener, but ultimately went away from Derrick Jones Jr. in stretches to open up the floor. Doncic was often playing out of ball screen rejections and hunting mismatches.
Dereck Lively II rolled his ankle midway through the opening period, resulting in being ruled out for the remainder of the game. He was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain. On a night Dallas had already entered without Richaun Holmes or Maxi Kleber, the team became even more depleted at the center after Lively went down.
"It's just a sprained ankle," Kidd said of Lively. "X-rays were negative, so just a sprained ankle."
Doncic put the Mavs' offense on his back throughout the game, scoring 22 points in the first quarter, but the team trailed 39-36. Dallas had the Slovenian superstar on the sideline to begin the second quarter, and the bench group achieved a 10-0 start to pull ahead. Hardaway and Seth Curry heated up with jumpers, leading 46-39 lead over the Blazers with 10:21 left in the second quarter.
With the Blazers being a defense that likes to throw out different pitches throughout games, they were aggressive with blitzing Doncic in ball screen actions to force short rolls. However, that did not last; the Slovenian superstar picked apart more traditional ball screen looks by bringing Ayton into the action using his man as the screener.
"I always accept what defense gives me," Doncic said. "I will look at what they're doing, so I just trying to read the defense."
Jaden Hardy finished a transition layup, pushing the Mavs' lead to 66-55 over the Blazers with 2:39 remaining in the second period. Dallas continued to build on its momentum, finishing the first half with a 74-63 advantage. Doncic scored 30 points in the opening half alone, setting a new season-high for points in a half after surpassing his previous best of 29.
Dallas Mavs superstar Luka Doncic against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
The Blazers immediately called a timeout after allowing Doncic to see drop coverage on the first possession of the second half, prompting an adjustment to be more aggressive in blitzing or at least playing at the level when Ayton was into the action. Portland also began picking up full-court more, prompting Dallas to position Doncic off-ball to gain possession before putting it on the floor.
When deploying a small lineup, the Mavs saw aggressive blitzes against Doncic, enabling the team to play out of the short roll at times with a five-out look. Markieff Morris hit a corner 3-pointer while playing the five after Portland tried to hedge and recover but prevented Doncic from turning the corner to get downhill.
"It's amazing," Doncic said. "I can take some rest, too. So, it's amazing. Like I said, it's 4-on-3 basketball. The court is wide open, so we score a lot of points, and I think we could score more. We have many open shots, and when they double me, I like it."
The Mavs sorely struggled to contain Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant throughout the game. Without a point-of-attack defender quick enough to hold Simons or a wing with the size or foot speed to handle Grant, Portland could frequently turn to those scoring options for a boost in critical moments.
Doncic was off the floor to begin the fourth quarter, and without a rim protector to set the tone, the Mavs struggled to contain the Blazers. Curry brought the Mavs' lead back to double figures with a deep pull-up 3-pointer to stifle Portland's offense.
Down the stretch of the game, the Mavs played with Morris at the five to continue to have a fully spaced floor to counter the Blazers' blitzing against Doncic. Portland began switching more frequently to prevent Dallas from being able to play out of a 4-on-3 with Doncic not being disrupted in getting the ball to the short roller.
"It starts with Luka, the trust, the energy he has when he passes the ball," Kidd said. "He trusts once he lets go of it, he's done his part in the advantage basketball. We've seen a lot here early in the season, and guys have really studied and have become very comfortable with understanding what they have to do.
"You can see that with the ball movement and being able not just to settle for 3s, but to attack, you see excellent they just tag and get to the rim. But the other side of that, we're getting wide open 3s, and it's just some nights they'll go in and some nights they don't. But I think if we can continue to keep with this philosophy of advantage basketball. It puts us in a position to win."
A step-back from mid-range gave Doncic his 40th point and pushed the Mavs back up by double figures with under three-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation. Portland failed to contain the Mavs' offense down the stretch, with Doncic accepting the coverages thrown his way and trusting teammates to execute. A final dagger involved Morris playing out of the short roll, then finding Derrick Jones Jr. on a backdoor cut for an alley-oop.
After another road victory, the Mavs improved to 9-4 (.692) when playing away from American Airlines Center, marking the best away record in the NBA. The team spent much time on the road together, including a 12-day international preseason excursion featuring stops in Abu Dhabi and Madrid, affording plenty of time to bond.
"I think we just stay together," Doncic said. "It's us against the whole gym, so we just stay together. That's about it, and that's the most important thing in the team — no matter if things look good or bad, we have to stay together."
Doncic finished his night with 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead the Mavs, marking a career-high 10th consecutive game scoring 30 or more points. He passed Wilt Chamberlain for the fourth-most 40-point triple-doubles in NBA history while also passing Dirk Nowitzki for the most 35-point games in Mavs history.
The Mavs' second-leading scorer was Hardaway, who provided 25 points and 6 rebounds off the bench. Other key standouts included Dante Exum providing 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in his fifth consecutive game in the starting lineup. Jones provided 18 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Morris played 20 minutes and chipped in 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Simons led the Blazers with 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists, combining to score 60 points with Grant, who added 27 points and 5 rebounds. The team's only other double-figure scorers were Scoot Henderson (13 points) and Duop Reath (11 points). Portland struggled to shoot from deep or get stops defensively.
The Mavs return to action on Monday when they complete the second part of a two-game road trip with a matchup against the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
