Mavericks' late rally falls short in loss to Blazers
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Damian Lillard had 27 points and six assists, Ed Davis scored all of his 16 points in the first half and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-103 on Wednesday night.
Maurice Harkless, starting for just the fourth time all season, and C.J. McCollum each added 14 points for the Blazers, who won for the first time against the team chasing them in the Western Conference standings.
Dallas made the game interesting with a late push to trim a 15-point deficit to five with 12.3 seconds left, but the Blazers made five of their six free throws down the stretch to hang on for the victory.
Former Blazers guard Wesley Matthews paced the Mavericks with 22 points. Salah Mejri, making his fourth start of the season, added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 21. Dallas fell into a tie with Utah for seventh in the West, and has lost eight of 11.
Lillard sparked a late second-quarter run with six points in the final 1:35 to help Portland regain a lead it would never give back. The Blazers put some distance between them and Dallas with an 8-0 spurt in the third quarter, with the Mavericks using two timeouts to try to quell the outburst.
Both teams went deep into their benches in the first half, using 10 players apiece as the coaches tried to find an advantage through matchups with frequent substitutions and timeouts.
An already intense affair, things heated up even more with 1:53 to go in the half when McCollum fouled Deron Williams, and then inadvertently clipped Williams' leg.
The Dallas point guard took exception and got into McCollum's face, resulting in double technicals. Less than 20 seconds later, Mejri picked up a technical for jawing at an official. So did his coach, Rick Carlisle, who was whistled in the third arguing a no-call on David Lee.
J.J. Barea earned a technical in fourth quarter for slapping Gerald Henderson's hand away.
All five Blazers starters reached double figures, with Mason Plumlee and Al-Farouq Aminu each scoring 10, as did Henderson off the bench.
Williams had 12 points and 11 assists.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Wednesday's game was the start of a four-game road swing. Of Dallas' final 12 games of the regular season, eight are on the road. . Mejri started thanks to a dominating performance against the Blazers on Sunday. Mejri had 13 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, plus six blocks in the overtime win.
Trail Blazers: After a trip to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Thursday, Portland concludes its regular season with seven of nine at home. The Blazers' game in Dallas on Sunday wrapped up a stretch of 11 out of 13 on the road. . F/C Meyers Leonard missed his fourth consecutive game with a left shoulder injury. . Harkless started in place of Noah Vonleh.
UP NEXT
Mavericks: At Golden State on Friday.
Trail Blazers: At Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
