Mavericks Fall to Trail Blazers Despite 46 Points From Kyrie Irving, 126-122

Kyrie Irving's performance wasn't enough to lift the short-handed Mavs

Dec 28, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) drives to the basket during the first half against Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe (17) at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The short-handed Dallas Mavericks played the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night, the second night of a back-to-back. Dallas was without Luka Doncic (calf strain), Dereck Lively II (hip contusion), and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) due to injury, and P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall due to suspension.

With that many players out, Dallas started Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, Klay Thompson, Maxi Kleber, and Daniel Gafford, their 14th different starting lineup of the season in Game 31. Portland rolled with Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant, and Deandre Ayton.

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It was a much slower start than Friday night for the Mavs, as the Blazers led 11-5 and then eventually 14-7. It was simple things costing Dallas early, like not communicating on a rebound, allowing Portland to get the ball in the middle of four people and kicking out for a three, a missed out-of-bounds call leading to a bucket for Portland, and just a little lack of energy. Even though Kyrie Irving scored seven early points, Jason Kidd was forced to call a timeout after Deandre Ayton hit his fourth basket of the period.

That timeout did not help, as just a few minutes later, the Trail Blazers had doubled up the Mavs, 28-14, following an and-one by Shaedon Sharpe. Portland was just killing on the two-man game with Deandre Ayton, who was hitting those mid-range pull-ups and floaters that can be iffy for him. That lead extended to 18 before the end of the period for the Blazers, but Dallas had a 9-2 run to close the quarter over the final few minutes, with Portland taking a 36-25 lead into the second.

That's around where the lead would stay for the first few minutes of the second quarter. Dallas had a few chances to cut into the lead further, but Daniel Gafford missed a transition layup, Olivier-Maxence Prosper threw a pass out of bounds, and they missed a few open looks. But Jaden Hardy's first basket since the beginning of the month kept Portland's lead at nine midway through the quarter.

But Dallas' defense, which was elite on Friday night, was struggling against the Blazers. Any time the Mavericks made a bucket, Portland had one of their own on the other end, and it was usually a three. Kyrie Irving carried the offense, including scoring 11 straight points for them down the stretch of the quarter, but Portland still took a 69-59 lead into halftime behind 16 points from Shaedon Sharpe and 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks from Deandre Ayton. Their 27/50 shooting helped them overcome 24 first-half points from Kyrie Irving.

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The third quarter started all Portland, as that ten-point lead quickly jumped to 17. Dallas tried to fight it down to 10, but Daniel Gafford picked up his fourth foul on a questionable Gortat screen, and that allowed the Blazers to go up by 18 again. Once the Mavs were finally able to string together some stops, the offense started drying up, not even being able to hit free throws.

Portland took their biggest lead of the game, 91-72, with a little over three minutes to go in the third quarter and eventually got that up to 21. A quick 10-2 run by the Mavs with some much-needed buckets by Jaden Hardy and Spencer Dinwiddie, but the Blazers would still take a 97-82 lead into the fourth.

Kyrie Irving had eight points in the first 2:05 of the fourth quarter to bring the lead down to ten, a desperately needed quick spurt from the Mavs. That forced a timeout by the Blazers, who are without Chauncey Billups as he deals with the loss of his grandmother. After the timeout, Irving shot a three over Ayton from well beyond the arc that banked off the backboard, hit every part of the rim, and dropped, then did almost the exact same thing on a middy on the next possession to cut it to five with a little over eight minutes to go.

After a few minutes of the lead hovering between five and nine, Shaedon Sharpe hit a turnaround mid-range shot with 4:14 left to go up 113-104. Quentin Grimes cleaned up an offensive rebound and hit a three to cut the lead to six, but Anfernee Simons hit a fading three with two minutes to go to build the lead back up to nine. Dallas tried to pull some late miracles, with Spencer Dinwiddie hitting a three to cut it to five with 31.3 seconds to go. But Klay Thompson was trapped in the corner and turned it over, which would do it. The Blazers would win 126-122.

Kyrie Irving was masterful, finishing with a season-high 46 points on 16/26 shooting, including 5/12 from three. Had they been able to get more stops, his performance would've been the talk of the town. Spencer Dinwiddie added 17 points and eight rebounds on 5/13 shooting; Daniel Gafford had 15 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks, Quentin Grimes had 15 points and six rebounds, Klay Thompson had 12 points on a rough 5/17 shooting, and Jaden Hardy hit a late three to push him into double-figures with 11.

Portland had five players with at least 19 points, led by Shaedon Sharpe (23 points, five rebounds), and followed by Anfernee Simons (22 points, 8 assists), Deandre Ayton (21 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks, two steals), Deni Avdija (21 points, five rebounds, five assists), and Scoot Henderson (19 points, six assists, five rebounds, five steals). They shot 46/92 from the floor and 11/26 from three.

The Mavericks will be in Sacramento on Monday night, who just fired head coach Mike Brown after a five-game losing streak.

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