Luka Doncic’s 3-point barrage leads Mavs past Blazers
FILE – Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks reacts after his three point basket during the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on March 19, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Steph Chambers / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Luka Doncic matched his career-best of eight 3-pointers and scored 37 points in just three quarters as the Dallas Mavericks steamrolled the host Portland Trail Blazers 132-92 on Sunday night.
Doncic missed just once from long range and collected seven rebounds as the Mavericks led by as many as 45 points while winning for the 13th time in the past 18 games. The winning margin was the club’s second-largest of the season behind a 124-73 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 27.
🔥 8-9 from DEEP for LUKA 🔥@luka7doncic (37 PTS) heats up from behind the arc in the @dallasmavs win! pic.twitter.com/HF6carHpfj
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2021
Josh Richardson scored 21 points and Dorian-Finney Smith added 13 for Dallas, which made 19 of 37 from 3-point range and shot 55.8 percent overall. Kristaps Porzingis had 12 points, while Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dwight Powell tallied 11 apiece.
Damian Lillard scored 19 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 16 for Portland, which had a three-game winning streak halted. Nassir Little scored 14 points and CJ McCollum added 13 for the Trail Blazers.
Lillard (seven attempts) and McCollum (five) missed all 12 of their 3-point attempts. Portland was just 9 of 41 from behind the arc while shooting 38.2 percent overall.
The one-sided triumph marked Dallas’ lone win in the season’s three meetings with Portland. The Trail Blazers beat the Mavericks 125-119 on Friday despite Doncic’s 38 points.
The other time Doncic made eight 3-pointers also came versus the Trail Blazers. He was 8-of-12 in a 120-112 win on Jan. 17, 2020.
Doncic drained three 3-pointers during a 19-0 run to start the second half.
He made back-to-back treys to give the Mavericks a 76-54 lead with 8:49 left in the third quarter. He added his seventh of the game to increase the margin to 27 with 7:14 remaining.
Finney-Smith followed with a 3-pointer to end the surge and make it 84-54 with 6:43 left.
Doncic hit his eighth 3-pointer to make it 91-62 with 4:41 left. He missed his first trey of the game with 2:20 remaining in the period.
The lead reached 37 later in the quarter before Dallas took a 103-69 advantage into the final stanza.
Doncic had four 3-pointers while scoring 24 first-half points as Dallas led 65-54 at the break.
Portland led 44-42 after Robert Covington’s 3-pointer with 7:23 left in the second quarter before the Mavericks began to assert control.
Doncic knocked down his fourth 3-pointer to make it 63-50 with 1:22 left in the half.
