The Portland Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks engaged in an incredible round-trip confrontation on Valentine’s Day, each team leaving their hearts on the floor in a dazzling display of offensive moves. As the first flush of love, it was a game of obstinate and obstinate racing. Portland went up very early, but was caught by the Mavericks in the second. Then Damian Lillard went to the top with hearts and roses, leading his team to a record 45 points of the season in the third period, only to be pulled by the equally impressive Luka Doncic in the fourth, establishing a nail rodent in which each team played “He loves me, he doesn’t love me” with the win. In the end, the Blazers made one more move than the Mavericks, leading to an impressive and lively 121-118 victory on the road.
First quarter
If the Mavericks left prepared for Damian Lillard, they did not appear in the first minutes of the game. Dame tried to layup, threw three bottoms, whipped … he brought his entire repertoire against Doncic, the man who leads him in the vote for the NBA stars of 2021. The moment Dallas finally blinked and said, “Oh … THAT is what it looks like! ” they awarded Portland 14 points before the 1⁄3 done. Half of them belonged to Dame.
The Blazers did not defend well in the first, but Dallas blocked three and failed to recover. His scoring attempts looked good, but they yielded little fruit. In addition to their misfortunes, the Mavs had chronic problems defending the track. When Portland entered, they got easy looks. Then, his three started to fall as well, and the lead approached 10. Dallas closed late, but a great dunk by Carmelo Anthony crowned a period of 9 rebounds and 5 assists by Lillard. Portland led 34-25 after one.
Second bedroom
Portland faced two challenges in opening the second period. They coughed the ball as if it were made of phlegm and they could not stop the Mavs in the hoop. Before you could say, “Taco Bell is a poor substitute for a real Valentine,” his clue was cleared. Anthony helped to accomplish them through his now-usual points. Anfernee Simons serving triples didn’t hurt. But the defense never returned to form in the first quarter. Enes Kanter provided a late goal, but it paled before Dallas bounced out. When the dust settled, Dallas led 61-58. Doncic was 24 at halftime.
Third quarter
The opening minutes of the third looked frustrating for the Blazers. Already suffering from a lack of bad calls, they found themselves exchanging occasional hits and frequent mistakes with Mavericks. That’s when Lillard said it was enough. Dame accelerated and climbed straight to the moon, marking and distributing coins like her grandmother at Advent. His outburst spurred the Blazers into a 19-5 run, which was only blunted when Doncic reprized his three-point shot in the first half. At that time, Lillard was in the mode he cannot stop, he cannot stop, he must never stop, hitting open shots and shots with the same uprightness. At one point, Dallas hit 5 threes in a row, which was the ONLY thing that kept them at a shouting distance in the face of Lillard Dam. But it was a long cry. The Blazers scored 45 in the period, finishing the table in 103-91. Wow.
Fourth trimester
Dallas ran a race early in the fourth, easily scoring in the painting. The Mavericks have kept the score steadily ever since. But Portland didn’t need to profit from all the trips, just enough to keep the opponent at bay. They managed this until the 4:00 mark, where the accumulation of buckets of easy Mavericks started to count. With Portland choosing the worst possible moment to start losing the open three, Dallas had a 12-0 streak. It was broken by a Lillard tray with 90 seconds remaining.
A Doncic drive and a plate with 50 seconds remaining finally brought the Mavericks back to a 113-all draw. 17 seconds later, Lillard took a step back three from the top of the arc. The Blazers almost invited Doncic to score on the drive in possession of the ball that followed, so Anthony found Jones Jr. for a dunk with 7 seconds remaining. Dallas would have the final shot, dropped by 118-121. Somehow, Portland lost Doncic on the field played for an open three, but the All-Star lost its easy look of the night. That’s how the Blazers came out with a sparkling victory and a very happy story.
Damian Lillard’s passing was accurate again. He accumulated 11 assists and reached 34 points. His favorite target was Carmelo Anthony, who scored 15 goals on the bench.
Portland owes part of that victory to the hard work on the glass, mainly through offensive rebounds. They equaled Dallas with 10 in the night.
The Blazers seemed frustrated by the referees’ lack of love tonight. They hit 19 free throws, while Dallas tried 25.
Stay tuned to Steve Dewald and our expanded recap with game reviews!
Points Box
The Blazers face Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday evening at 5 pm in the Pacific.