The final four minutes earned everyone in a Mavs jersey A’s, but the previous 44 minutes earned weeks’ worth of detention.
The Dallas Mavericks (22-16) pulled out a 117-111 win they desperately needed to have against the Portland Trail Blazers (13-24) on Thursday at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks finally stopped screwing around with about six minutes left to play and came back from 10 points down early in the fourth quarter.
Dallas’ perimeter defense was sinking the ship through three quarters, but then the Mavs started to play with a sense of desperation worthy of the moment before them. You can’t lose to Portland twice in the same season, and you absolutely had to have this win before the schedule takes a turn toward brutal for the rest of January.
Here’s how the Mavericks graded out individually in an effort that was three parts piss-poor with one heaping helping of clutch fourth-quarter onions.
Spencer Dinwiddie: C
17 Points/ 5 Rebounds / 5 Assists / 1 Steal (35 minutes)
Dinwiddie was a head-scratcher against the Blazers, especially with his perimeter defense. He wandered off from his man on more than one occasion in the first half, as Portland made 10-of-18 of its 3-point attempts on the way to a 58-53 lead at the break. He looked Dereck Lively II off in the pick-and-roll game on multiple occasions.
Dinwiddie’s quick pull-up 3-pointer before the defense sets itself needs to be put on a shelf until at least the All-Star Break. We’d love it if he’d exchange that signature move for recognizing when the man he’s guarding is heating up from 3-point range and exerting even an ounce of effort to get a hand in his face. The first time all night he tried in earnest to close out on a 3-point shooter, he fouled Deni Avdija on a made 3-pointer that put the Blazers up 85-75 with under three minutes left in the third. Dinwiddie made some plays down the stretch and filled up the stat sheet a little to even things out — but only enough for a barely passing grade.
Klay Thompson: D
3 Points/ 4 Rebounds / 1 Assists / 1 Steal (22 minutes)
Thompson left a lot to be desired in his perimeter defense in the first half and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. His shooting touch deserted him on Thursday, and Thompson didn’t do anything else well enough to mitigate how ugly it looked. He couldn’t decide between a head fake and a contested 3-pointer early in the fourth and ended up batting the ball out of bounds for a turnover as the Mavs came into the last frame down 89-81. He was slow to get out on Shaedon Sharpe after yet another Blazer offensive rebound with nine minutes to play, and Sharpe connected from the corner to force a Dallas timeout, down 97-88.
PJ Washington: A+
23 Points/ 14 Rebounds / 1 Assist / 3 Steals / 1 Block (35 minutes)
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
Washington missed his first four shot attempts as the Mavericks got off to a 1-for-13 start from the field. He bounced back in the second, though, with seven points and four rebounds in the frame. He lost the ball late in the fourth, which led to a wide open Toumani Camara 3-pointer at an inopportune moment and increased Portland’s lead to 109-99 with just 4:33 left. Washington hit two important free throws with 2:17 left to tie the game, 109-109, then hit a humongous corner 3-pointer the next time down to put the Mavs in front with 1:58 showing on the clock. That shot earned him enough extra credit to forgive any previous missed assignments.
Daniel Gafford: D+
2 Points/ 4 Rebounds / 2 Assists / 3 Blocks (10 minutes)
Gafford watched Trail Blazers big man Donovan Clingan knock down a wide open 3-pointer late in the first quarter, then gave the ball away to Scoot Henderson immediately on the other end. We do have to give Gafford credit for chasing Henderson down and blocking his fast-break layup attempt, though. Late in the second quarter, he tried to thread the needle with an ill-advised, off-balance pass to Washington that was predictably intercepted by Camara.
Gafford came up with another highlight block on a Shaedon Sharpe drive midway through the third that led to a Naji Marshall fast-break dunk. Then a minute later he made a strong drive to the hoop and clanged a bunny as Clingan loomed behind him. Lively’s huge fourth-quarter rendered Gafford expendable in the game’s biggest minutes.
Naji Marshall: B-
11 Points/ 2 Rebounds / 4 Assists (26 minutes)
Marshall rattled home the Mavs’ drought-busting field goal after 10 straight missed shots in the first quarter when he made a nice cut and drive to get into the paint for the teardrop runner. He didn’t do much after that, though. He let Deni Avdija rebound his own missed free throw early in the third quarter, a level of lethargy rarely seen from Marshall. He drove through the lane on a mission after a nice find from Thompson with under seven minutes to play. His 3-point play made it 101-93 and kicked off an 18-2 Dallas run to end the game.
Quentin Grimes: B+
13 Points/ 5 Rebounds / 4 Assists / 1 Steal (27 minutes)
Grimes picked up right where he left off in Tuesday’s 118-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He hit his first two 3-point attempts while the rest of the Mavericks offense sputtered to a 28-20 deficit at the end of one. He made a savvy hustle play on a loose ball near midcourt to start a third-quarter fast break that led to a finish from Marshall that pulled Dallas to within one, down 74-73 with 5:16 left in the frame.
Grimes forced an Anfernee Simons turnover with some snug on-ball defense late in the fourth as the Mavs were down 109-105. That led to two Lively free throws as the frantic comeback attempt was in full effect. He drove baseline for an off-balance 3-point play with 32 seconds remaining to extend the Dallas lead to 115-109, cap what was then a super-clutch 16-0 run, and effectively seal the deal.
Jaden Hardy: A+
25 Points/ 2 Assists / 1 Steal (29 minutes)
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
Hardy is showing us something in the last two games. His confidence in himself can sometimes lead to bonehead turnovers, but on Thursday, it led to a season-high 25 points. On a possession that included two straight Dallas offensive rebounds early in the second quarter, he stepped into his second made 3-pointer of the game and drained it to bring the Mavs to within two points, down 30-28, and force a Portland timeout. Hardy’s heat-check 3-ball with eight minutes left in the second tied the game at 35-35 and gave him 13 points early on. He made 4-of-5 from deep on his way to 18 points in the first half, then ended the second quarter by going 1-of-5 from the field. Ultimately, we’ll take it.
Hardy didn’t get into the second-half act until late in the third quarter as Mavs head coach Jason Kidd preferred to beat his head against the wall with a flailing Dinwiddie eating up minutes over the hotter hand in Hardy.
Maxi Kleber: C+
2 Points/ 2 Assists / 1 Steal (12 minutes)
Sometimes it feels like Kleber is actively trying to blend into the background. And sometimes, blending into the background and not breaking anything is all the Mavs need from him.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper: B
3 Rebounds / 2 Assists / 1 Steal (9 minutes)
O-Max made a nice play on a drive and dish for a Hardy 3-pointer early in the second and pulled down an offensive board on a possession that led to another Hardy 3-ball. He gets in where he fits in.
Dereck Lively II: A
21 Points/ 16 Rebounds / 1 Assists / 3 Blocks (35 minutes)
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
Lively came with plenty of energy against the Trail Blazers, but he also missed a couple of bunnies that should have been easy dunks instead of finesse-ins. The double-double is good to see. The three blocked shots were evidence of solid effort. He was also one half of the Mavs center duo who, at times, seemed to have no answer for the rookie Clingan. Those were all thoughts I had before he turned in an amazing 13-point, six-rebound firestorm of an effort in the fourth quarter. He made the plays that turned the momentum in the Mavericks’ favor with under six minutes to play. His third blocked shot, his thundering jam on a find from Marshall and his defense down low on possession after possession were huge down the stretch.