Mavericks Dominate Trail Blazers in Luka Doncic's Return, 132-108

The Trail Blazers had no answer for Luka Doncic and Daniel Gafford

Dec 23, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) drives to the basket past Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks took on the Portland Trail Blazers for their third game of this current four-game home stretch. Having lost six straight road games, Portland entered the game with the unfortunate task of playing a Mavs squad with Luka Doncic back in the lineup.

Dallas had their preferred starting lineup of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II. Portland rolled with Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Jerami Grant, and DeAndre Ayton.

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Klay Thompson started the scoring with a three from the right wing, but neither team would go on a run of longer than four points. Every starter for the Mavs had a bucket midway through the period as they held a small 16-13 lead following a turnaround fade from Luka Doncic, his first bucket back from injury.

Portland tied the game at 18 before the Mavs went on their longest run of the game to this point: six. The Trail Blazers got off to a rough start from the free throw line, starting just 5/8, which kept them from having a lead at any point in the first quarter until a Scoot Henderson buzzer-beater at the end. Dallas was dealing with some early foul trouble, as PJ Washington and Maxi Kleber each picked up two fouls. The Blazers took a 31-28 lead into the second quarter.

Dallas started the second quarter on a 7-0 run to re-take the lead, using two steals in the first few minutes to get out in transition. Then after some more exchanged buckets, Dallas used an 8-0 run to go up by nine, 49-40, closed off by a nifty finish from Kyrie Irving.

Finally, after some missed chances to extend the lead to 10, Luka Doncic found Kyrie Irving in transition, who hit a three from the top of the key to go up by 10 with a little over a minute left in the half. A Klay Thompson three and a tough finish from Anfernee Simons as the half was expiring gave Dallas a 62-53 lead at the half.

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Dallas opened the lead up to 14 points early in the second half using an 8-2 run, then after a brief response from Portland, Kyrie Irving hit a beautiful layup after falling down and getting up, then PJ Washington found Klay Thompson for his third three of the game to go up 75-60.

Daniel Gafford then had a surprising stretch toward the end of the quarter, putting the ball on the floor a few times and going right at DeAndre Ayton multiple times, allowing Dallas to extend the lead up to 20 at 87-67. Gafford's domination over Portland continued throughout the rest of the quarter, forcing extra help from Portland's defense and opening things up for Luka Doncic to work more one-on-one. By the end of the quarter, the Mavs were able to hold a 102-76 lead. Dallas outscored the Blazers 40-23 in that frame, able to take control of the game.

The fourth quarter started with Maxi Kleber's first made three-pointer since November 25th and just his third of the season. Luka Doncic then hit a three a few minutes later for the Mavs to go up by 30, and despite there being more than nine minutes to go, that would be about it for this one, as the Mavs checked out their starters.

Dallas would win over the Trail Blazers 132-108. They absolutely dominated this game in the paint, scoring 64 paint points on 32/40 shooting.

Luka Doncic led all scorers with 27 points in his return while shooting 10/19 from the floor, adding in seven assists and seven rebounds. Daniel Gafford had a season-high 23 points, just three off his career high. Kyrie Irving (20 points), Klay Thompson (13), and PJ Washington (12) were also in double-figures. Thompson is now just two three-pointers away from tying Reggie Miller on the all-time leaderboard.

Portland had a few players in double-figures, led by Deni Avdija's 19 points, but they shot just 8/29 (27.6%) from three-point range.

The Mavericks (19-10) will host the Minnesota Timberwolves (14-14) in a Western Conference Finals rematch on Christmas Day in Dallas.

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