Lillard’s 40 in the Blazers’ 140–123 win over the Mavs

PORTLAND – Even with some of the best players sitting on the bench in street clothes Sunday night, Dallas The Mavericks kept pretty close to the Portland Trail Blazers.

A key stretch followed, lasting less than three minutes and deciding the Blazers won 140–123 at the Moda Center. It was then that the Blazers went on a mind-blowing 16-0 streak, turning a 106-103 lead into a 122-103 lead with 7:13 left in the game.

From there, Portland made it to the winner’s circle and beat the Mavs by 17 points, just as they had on Saturday night when they also beat the Mavs by 17 points (136–119).

“We fought longer than before (Saturday), so that says a lot about the character,” said trainer Jason Kidd. Portland is a really good team.

“They jumped on us quickly in the fourth and that’s when the game went away.”

The game is goneThis is because the Mavs did not include Luka Doncic (left ankle soreness), Tim Hardaway Jr. (left ankle sprain), Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor sprain), Josh Green (right elbow sprain), and Maxi Kleber (torn right hamstring). So, despite the manpower shortage, it took an obvious toll on the Mavs team, who were playing the last game of a five-game, nine-day journey.

“Yes, we’ve run out of bodies,” guard Spencer Dinwiddie said. “To put it mildly, it was a very difficult journey.

“But we are not making excuses. It’s always the next person. But we’re looking forward to going home, getting some guys back and trying to start a winning streak.”

The Mavs suffered a 1-4 loss on this trip and will take a 24-21 record in Wednesday’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks.

“There may be a few tired bodies, but no one will spare us,” Kidd said. “The games are on.

“As we recover here in the future, hopefully this will help us. But the schedule is getting tighter and so are the teams.”

After rookie defenseman Jayden Hardy rebounded on his own missed 3-pointer and scored to give the Mavs a 106-103 win over the Blazers with just under 10 minutes left in the game, Portland stalled and quickly went for 16 – 0 ran in less than three minutes to take the lead, 122-103. After that, the Mavs never posed a major threat as Portland’s lead increased to 26 points.

“I thought we were playing faster today, playing back to back,” Kidd said. “I thought Spencer had very, very good control of the game, but unfortunately they got more points.

“But it all comes down to our protection. We just have to put in a little more effort, unless we’re going to be just an offensive team where we’re just trying to score 140 every night.”

Dinwiddie led the Mavs with 28 points and nine assists, while Christian Wood had 23 points and 16 rebounds. But it was a game Hardy, who got the Mavs excited and got them thinking about what’s next for the 20-year-old Las Vegas.

Hardy used his exceptional speed to race in and out of traffic en route to a career-high 25 points on 8 of 17 shots in just 27 minutes of work.

“He played against a lot of their newbies,” Kidd said. “We talked about putting him in a position to succeed and today you can see how he can score the ball and help us on both sides.

“But I thought he was very, very good tonight. When we recover, we will see how it affects his minutes, but he definitely needs minutes.”

The Mavs stayed within screaming distance of the Blazers for most of the game. Portland led 33-31 after the first quarter, 61-54 at halftime and 98-95 after the third quarter.

But Mav’s inability to contain Damian Lillard and his friends was Mav’s undoing. Lillard scored 40 points – he was 16 of 16 from the free throw line – and teammates Anferni Simons, Jusuf Nurkic and Jerami Grant scored 20 points each.

“The lady has done her work,” said Dinwiddie. “He hit the free throw line a few times and stuff like that. We didn’t stop him very well.

“For most of the game, we were within five points or so. Then they sort of stretched it at the start of the fourth.”

Without Doncic to lean on, Dinwiddie mostly ran the attacking show, so he had to make sure other players were on offense.

“Of course when I’m with Luka I shoot more from the point or obviously attack on the second flank, try to be aggressive in certain movements but also try to move the ball,” he said. “We had some continuity when I was there without LD.

“This is more than just trying to get down and be aggressive, breaking the paint. And, as I said, more volumes are coming up. You see more free throws and more shots overall and a couple more passes than usual.”

Now the Mavs are heading home to set up a three-game home stand and rest their weary bodies.

“We’re coming home and we have an infield we need to take care of,” Kidd said. “We have to protect the house.

“For us, we thought it would be a good ride so we could improve our road record. But unfortunately we ran into some teams that played well.”

Indeed, the Mavs, who are only 8-15 years old on the road, didn’t expect this to be a trip they would leave with a losing record. Now they must regroup at home.

“Every time you link losses, you are always disappointed,” Dinwiddie said. “We had enough healthy people, we had enough talent to win.

“The games we lost we just couldn’t put together and that’s very unfortunate. And like I said, we don’t do excuses. Regardless of who is sitting and who is playing, we have a chance to strike every night, just like today.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice