Lillard lifts Blazers over Mavericks

FILE – Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers takes a shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth quarter at Moda Center on January 25, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Abbie Parr/Getty Images/AFP

Damian Lillard delivered 34 points and 11 assists as the Blazers withstood a 44-point performance from Luka Doncic to edge the Dallas Mavericks 121-118 in the first game of a three-game road trip.

Lillard made a clutch three-pointer with less than a minute to go after Dallas had gone on a 12-0 run to climb back into the contest on Sunday.

“I think we earned this win,” said Lillard. “We played the kind of game we played, against what we’ve been up against through the game, it’s rewarding in the end.”

2-0 in our "Spirit of Oregon" jerseys! @mcdonalds Game Highlights 🎥 pic.twitter.com/Cb4twLFHJ6

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 15, 2021

Gary Trent scored 17 points and Carmelo Anthony notched 15 off the bench for the Trail Blazers, who stretched their winning streak to four games.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points for the Mavericks, who had their four-game win streak snapped in front of 2,200 Texas fans at the American Airlines Center.

“It didn’t matter if I felt confident or not,” Doncic said of his final shot. “I thought it was in. It went in and out, so I was disappointed and that’s on me. I should have hit the shot.”