Damian Lillard Made History With A 61-Point Outing In A Blazers Win Over The Mavericks

As the NBA’s seeding games wind down in Orlando, not every contest features two teams with incentive to operate at the highest possible level. On Tuesday evening, however, a nationally televised match-up spotlighted a pair of teams with plenty to play for, with Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers taking on Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, and the Dallas Mavericks. After 48 entertaining minutes and plenty of drama, Lillard and the Blazers picked up the victory by avoiding a buzzer-beater. As a result, Portland inched closer to a playoff berth.

The Mavs came out of the gates firing on the offensive end of the floor, executing well and utilizing Doncic’s shot-making.

Dallas took an eight-point lead in the first period and, while the Blazers showed immediate signs of fighting back, Porzingis established himself in a hurry. The talented big man produced 16 points in the first quarter; tying his career high in an opening period.

Near the end of the first quarter, though, Portland took control, concluding the period on a 17-3 run to assume the lead.

The Blazers stayed in front for the entire second quarter, thanks in part to the work of Lillard. In the first half, he put up 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, dominating the action.

Lillard’s quality work helped the Blazers to take an eight-point lead into the locker room, but the Mavericks were ready as play resumed. Dallas hung around early in the second half and, late in the third period, the Mavericks scored ten straight points to reclaim the lead.

As the fourth quarter arrived, tensions were high on both sides, including technical fouls for Doncic, Carmelo Anthony, and Maxi Kleber in a short period of time. While the margin was tight, the Mavericks did open the quarter with a slow-developing 11-2 run, taking their largest lead since the opening minutes.

Almost on cue, Lillard responded and, with more than five minutes remaining, the All-NBA guard reached the 50-point mark for the second straight game.

With the help of a three-pointer by Anthony and a tip-in by Jusuf Nurkic, Portland knotted the score at 117-117 with five minutes to go and the stage was set for a wildly intriguing, pressure-packed stretch run. Both offenses continued to cook, with Doncic pouring in a three-point play (that included the sixth foul for Nurkic) and Lillard answered with a triple.

Then, Kleber and Anthony traded triples, keeping the score tied at 127-127 with two minutes left. Keeping the pace, Porzingis knocked down a three-pointer, setting the stage for a wild connection by Lillard to tie the game with a little help from the rim.

On the ensuing play, Porzingis fouled out on something of a controversial and, after a review to confirm that decision, Lillard found Whiteside for a dunk to take the lead. Doncic then answered by drawing a foul but, after he split his attempts, the Blazers led by one point with 40 seconds to go.

After a rare miss from Lillard, the Mavs had possession with a chance to take the lead, but Trey Burke committed a bizarre offensive foul to negate a bucket in the corner.

Forced to foul, Dallas put CJ McCollum on the free throw line with three seconds to go. The veteran guard, who struggled mightily in the game, buried both and the Mavericks had one more chance to tie the game. After a timeout, Dallas did execute a solid play to engineer a look for Tim Hardaway Jr. but, when it went begging, Portland escaped with a badly-need victory.

Lillard was the story of the night, finishing with 61 points on 17-for-32 from the floor, 9-for-17 from three-point range and a perfect 18-for-18 from the free throw line. For good measure, he added eight assists and five rebounds, while also making history with another 60-point effort.

From a team perspective, this was an enormous win for the Blazers, with Portland now assuming control of the No. 8 seed in the West. The Blazers can now clinch a spot in the play-in tournament with a win over the Nets on Thursday and, if they pick up that victory, Portland would hold a key advantage in forcing their opponent to beat them in back-to-back games.