The Portland Trail Blazers took on a depleted Dallas Mavericks squad on Saturday night, hoping to take advantage of an injury to Luka Doncic and a couple suspensions to key players as well. Not all well-laid plans have worked out for Portland this year, but this one did. Portland’s guards finally clicked together on the exact night center Deandre Ayton played like a true #1 pick. All of that was too much for the shorthanded Mavericks to handle. Portland won in a barn-burner, 126-122.
Four Blazers scored 20 or more points in this effort: Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, and Deni Avdija.