Dallas Mavericks: Recapping the Win Over Portland

The Dallas Mavericks won another overtime game, this time against the Portland Trail Blazers. Who led the way yesterday?

As the season draws nearer to a close, the Dallas Mavericks find themselves in a very difficult position. The need to win games is at an all time high and the opponents need to win matches that. With the difficulty of the upcoming schedule for Dallas, must win games have become far more difficult than when we were calling Denver and Sacramento the same thing.

The Dallas Mavericks squared off against the streaking Portland Trail Blazers yesterday afternoon in a game that both teams would love to win. Portland is trying their hardest to distance itself from the 7 and 8 seeds while Dallas is just trying to keep their head above water.

With that being the position we find ourselves in, the game in Dallas was a big one. It started with that clear mentality from both teams as it was clear everyone came to play. The first quarter introduced the Mavs of just how dangerous the Trail Blazers can be with the Portland squad hitting 6 long-balls and scoring 36 points right out of the gate. Dallas did everything they could to keep up but found themselves in an 11-point deficit after the first 12 minutes.

The Mavericks were not going to give up that early though. An 11-point deficit turned into a 1-point lead only 4 minutes and 29 seconds later on a J.J. Barea 3-pointer. Dallas continued their hot shooting into the half where the Mavs lead 58-55.

In the third, Dallas kept their foot on the gas and widened the lead. In another great quarter from Dallas, the Mavericks found themselves up 8 going into what should have been the final 12 minutes, 90-82.

The 4th quarter proved to the Mavericks once more the danger of this Portland team, and more specifically, the Portland guards. Between Allen Crabbe, CJ McCollum, and Damian Lillard, the Blazers fought back and tied the game at 113-113 at the end of regulation.

I know it is hard to believe, but the Mavericks were headed to overtime…again.

Fortunately for the Mavericks, and in the beautifully poetic words of Jeff ‘Skin’ Wade, “”. Dirk scored 8 points in the overtime period and the Mavericks outscored the Blazers 19-7. Dallas wins a tough fought and badly needed game against a Blazers team we get to see again in just a few days.

When you look at the stats, it is easy to see why the Mavericks were successful in this game. Dirk Nowitzki became the oldest player (37 years old) to score 40 points in a game since Karl Malone did so in 2003. Deron Williams did his part as well, dropping 31 points and 16 assists. Wes Matthews scored 15 on 5-7 shooting from behind the arc and Salah Mejri adds an impressive double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. He also added an incredible 6 blocked shots.

Highlights: Many highlights could be the one to talk about after this game between Dirk and D-Will combining for 71, Salah blocking 6 shots, or even Wes hitting 5 long shots, but the most impressive stat of the night may have been Dallas’ shooting percentages. The Mavericks shot 55% from the field, including 60% from beyond the arc and 82% from the free throw line. It is hard to lose a game when you shoot like that.

Lowlights: Unfortunately, Parsons did not even suit up for Dallas in this game as he suffered a hamstring injury the previous game against Golden State. The injury is not expected to be serious by any means but Parsons remains day-to-day. Coach Carlisle continues to seek for a lineup and rotation that can be successful on a regular basis but expect to see Parsons back in the starting lineup as soon as he is healthy.

Next: Dallas Mavericks: Week 21 Game Changer Report

Dallas looks to being another win streak against the Portland Trail Blazers one more time on Wednesday at 9:00pm Central time. The game will be on the road where the Mavericks are 15-18 on the year.