PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 37 points in three quarters, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 132-92 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
Doncic made his first eight 3-point shots and finished with 8-for-9 shooting from long distance. Overall, he shot 13 of 19 from the field and added seven rebounds and four assists.
Josh Richardson scored 21 points, DorianFinney-Smith added 13 and Kristaps Porzingis 12 for the Mavericks.
“We shifted our concentration onto our defensive game plan, our offensive gameplay and unconditionally helping each other out there and turning the attention away from the officials,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “This is part of the growth process for a young team. Some things that this team simply has to go through. This was a source of growth tonight and we just want to keep working to improve every single day. “
Damian Lillard led Portland with 19 points, and Gary Trent Jr. added 16. CJ McCollum finished with 13.
“Anytime me, CJ (McCollum) and (Carmelo Anthony) go 0 for 16 from 3, we’re not going to have much of a chance,” Lillard said.
Dallas’ Boban Marjanovic, who sat our Friday’s game, took advantage of his opportunity to make an impact.
After Portland had a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass on Friday, Marjanovic’s presence helped tipped the scales in favor of the Mavericks in just five minutes of action. Marjanovic finished with two points and two rebounds but helped prevent Portland center Enes Kanter from dominating the boards. Dallas outrebounded the Blazers 52-33 overall.
The Mavericks made 19 3-pointers. Portland was unable to keep pace as the Trail Blzers shot 20% from the 3-point arc and made only nine shots from long distance.
A Doncic 3-pointer gave the Mavericks a 76-54 lead, forcing a Blazers timeout with 8:47 left in the third quarter. Dallas started the third quarter on a 19-0 run. A three-point play by McCollum stopped Portland’s third quarter drought, which lasted 5:37.
“I don’t know how I characterize that,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “It was not our night in the 3rd quarter. 19-0 speaks for itself.”
The Mavericks led 103-69 at the end of the third quarter. The Blazers took Lillard out of the game after the third quarter.
Dallas led by as many as 45 at one point.
