Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavs Overcome Kyrie Irving's Injury in Win vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Despite Kyrie Irving being ruled out with a foot injury, the Mavs managed to overcome by winning against the Trail Blazers.

PORTLAND — The Dallas Mavericks entered Friday's 125-112 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers coming off a 50-point route of the Utah Jazz, featuring a 40-point triple-double from Luka Doncic. Seeking consecutive wins for the first time since mid-November.

The Blazers had no shortage of veteran players sidelined, including impact players such as Jerami Grant (concussion protocol), Deandre Ayton (knee soreness), Malcolm Brogdon (knee soreness), and Robert Williams III (ACL tear).

The Mavs started Dante Exum for the second consecutive game, with Grant Williams (knee soreness) and Josh Green (elbow sprain) both sidelined. 

Portland began the game utilizing an aggressive ball screen coverage against Doncic and full-court pressure, often doubling him to prompt him to give the ball up with a pass. The Mavs led 11-8 at the 6:23 mark of the opening period, struggling to find a rhythm against the physical Portland defense.

Doncic had three turnovers in the opening quarter, but along the way, the offense mixed up the approach to create advantages to counter the Blazers' approach. Various approaches were used, whether rejecting ball screens, posting up, using small-small screens to switch hunt, double-drag action, or simply not bringing up a screener to maximize spacing. 

After Doncic began to heat up from beyond the arc, whether using a step-back jumper or catch-and-shoot look, the Mavs created separation to grow their lead to double-figures. Dallas led 28-13 when Doncic checked out for the first time. Irving re-entered the game to lead the bench group, facing similar defensive approaches as the solo star running the bench unit. 

Portland struggled to keep pace with the Mavs' offense despite hot shooting from Shaedon Sharpe early on. Irving sustained Dallas' advantage as the leader of the bench group before Doncic returned in the second quarter. The Mavs continued to give playing time to Olivier-Maxence Prosper, utilizing him and Dereck Lively II as the bigs in Horns to create opportunities for Irving to attack without getting doubled early.

With Anfernee Simons finding a rhythm and the Blazers' half-court defense tightening up its execution and often sending an early low man to load up the paint, Portland rallied back to trail 45-39 midway through the second period. 

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic against the Portland Trail Blazers..  / Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

After Dwight Powell landed on Irving's legs trying to grab an offense rebound, the reigning NBA All-Star suffered an injury that caused him to head to the locker room. Irving wanted to walk it off but stayed in to shoot a pair of free throws. Tim Hardaway Jr. quickly committed an intentional foul, allowing Irving to exit the game. He was later ruled out with what was described as a right foot injury. 

Kyrie Irving stayed on the ground for a while after a collision. He stayed in to shoot the pair of free throws, but checked out and walked to the locker room after making them. pic.twitter.com/fp5IrMdam3

— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) December 9, 2023

Irving checked out with 3:49 left before halftime, requiring Doncic to shoulder the load without his superstar running mate. Seth Curry started the second quarter in Irving's place; he didn't re-emerge from the locker room before halftime ended. Portland dialed up more blitzes to pressure Doncic as a result.

After experiencing slippage defensively, the Mavs allowed the Blazers to score 38 points in the second period, narrowing their lead to 71-60 at the break. Portland continued to chip away at Dallas's advantage, using a Sharpe-made 3-pointer to bring the game within four points. 

Without Irving on the floor, Exum ramped up his impact by attacking the rim and making hustle plays. Hardaway continued to provide a needed shooting impact. The Mavs turned to A.J. Lawson off the bench and provided a spark, getting to the rim for an explosive dunk on the break to put the Mavs up 86-74 with 5:38 left in the third quarter.

“He was big,” Kidd said about Exum. “To have to start and play both ends, I thought he did a great job defensively. We lost (Irving), and Dante did a really good job."

With Lively in foul trouble and a long list of perimeter players injured, the Mavs had to get creative with lineup combinations throughout the second half. Markieff Morris was deployed at the five spot, and the team began blitzing in ball screen coverage, forcing the Blazers to play out of a 4-on-3 situation before going away from it. 

The Blazers continued to apply full-court pressure to Doncic and were more aggressive with switching ball screening actions in the fourth quarter, making him work to generate rim pressure without Irving. Dallas started targeting Jabari Walker in ball screening actions, then played out of Stack pick-and-roll to open the floor for Doncic and create advantages. Lively also began re-screening to make it more challenging for Portland's on-ball defenders, allowing Doncic to get downhill.

Simons continued his hot scoring performance, converting on some tough off-the-dribble jumpers, including a step-back three and a mid-range look to make it a one-point game. Doncic began to take greater control of the game by scoring or assisting on all 10 of Dallas' following points to answer 

“We took their best punch when they cut the lead,” Hardaway said. “We weathered the storm. It was a team effort."

Curry converted a pivotal four-point play to push the Mavs up by 13 points but failed to execute on the boards on a few plays on both ends. Portland established momentum by making Dallas pay for deploying ICE coverage against ball screens, cutting the Mavs' edge to just six points for a moment. 

Doncic led the Mavs with a steady hand down the stretch, continuing to find the open man out of the team's ball-screening actions. The Blazers' offense began to stall, allowing Dallas to regain a double-figure lead and ultimately seal the victory after Exum converted a corner 3-pointer from a Doncic spray-out pass with 1:23 to play.

The Mavs return to action on Monday when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum, marking the final regular season matchup between the two teams this season.