Fans at the Moda Center got their money’s worth Sunday evening at an offensive explosion of a basketball game, even as the Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 137-131.
The scrappier-by-the-day Blazers went toe to toe with NBA superstar Luka Doncic and his supporting cast of sharpshooting role players, trading haymakers for the entirety of the second half. In those final two quarters, the offensive output from both teams was so large, the level of shotmaking so absurd, the finale so twisty — that Anfernee Simons going berserk for 24 third-quarter points almost feels like a forgotten subplot in the most entertaining game of the Blazers’ season.