'Dropping Dimes': Doncic, Brunson Push Mavs Past Trail Blazers in Bounce-Back Win

The Dallas Mavericks got embarrassed in a blowout loss on Tuesday night, but they bounced back nicely against the Portland Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back.

As deflated as the Dallas Mavericks felt after losing to the Golden State Warriors by nearly 40 points last night, a bounce-back win against a shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers team was just what the doctor ordered to get some good vibes going again.

Thanks in large part to the performances of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, the Mavs were able to pull away from the Blazers with a 132-112 victory to put them at 28-21 on the season. Dallas had seven players score in double-figures tonight and shot 44.4 percent from three-point range as a team.

Doncic started this one out by scorching the nets, as he finished the first quarter with 10 points and a couple of deep step-back threes. For the rest of the game, though, Doncic focused on setting up his teammates more than looking for his own shot, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists while shooting just 3-of-9 from the field. The triple-double was Doncic's sixth of the season.

Jalen Brunson struggled against the Warriors' length on Tuesday, but he had his own individual bounce-game with 20 points, six rebounds and 11 assists while shooting 9-of-15 from the field. Brunson has found himself in the midst of many NBA trade deadline rumors lately, and that likely won't change with each dazzling performance he puts up.

"Our two leaders, Luka and JB, were great tonight," said head coach Jason Kidd. "My job is the get these kids paid and win a championship."

Kidd is well on his way to accomplishing that first goal, as Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith appear to be in for big pay raises this summer. As for the second goal, though, Kidd's front office buddy Nico Harrison is probably going to have to do a little more to help him reach that one.

Porzingis, who was ejected against the Warriors the night before for kicking the ball into the stands, played a much better game in Portland, as he finished with 22 points and five rebounds while shooting 8-of-18 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

With Tim Hardaway Jr. likely out for the rest of the regular season with a foot fracture, Kidd opted to fill most of those vacant minutes with Josh Green and Frank Ntilikina. Those two ended up scoring 17 points combined on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Although the Hardaway Jr. loss hurts, a potential blessing in disguise could be how it helps accelerate the development of Green throughout the rest of this season.

The Dame Lillard-less Blazers were led by Anfernee Simons, C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Simons scored 23 points, McCollum poured in 20 points, and Nurkic added 18 points and 8 rebounds. This was the second time this season that Dallas scored 132 points on Portland.

Next up, the Mavs will return home after going 1-1 on their two-game road trip to face former head coach Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.