The Mavericks snatched a hard-earned win from near-certain loss.
The Dallas Mavericks (22-16) burned their Portland Trail Blazers’ (13-24) demons, winning 117-111. Jaden Hardy was the high man for Dallas. He scored 25 points off the bench, and was supported by P.J. and Lively, who scored 23 and 21 points, respectively. Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons led the Blazers in their defeat with 22 apiece.
Here are some numbers that piece the game together:
4: Games in a row Jaden Hardy scored 15+ points
Hardy has been on a heater to start the new year. He certainly didn’t cool down today. He was the only one in double digits at the half, and his season-high in points today was sorely needed today.
He went 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from three in the first half, though he drew no fouls. He kept the Mavericks in the hunt through sheer scoring until the rest of the Mavs were able to catch up and start hitting their shots. He made smart reads and plays, made tough shots, and all in all played to the ceiling that he is capable of.
2:15: Time the Mavericks were leading this game
Basketball is a game of runs. Whenever the Blazers hit a big shot or capped off a big run, the Mavericks would respond back hard and fast. However, the Mavs were always playing catch up, and only took the lead once in the game from a Dinwiddie three before the fourth quarter. After building up double digit leads in five of their last seven games, this was a stark drop-off.
The Mavs kept this close despite being the ones down 10 or more points multiple times. They had a chance to take the lead again in the third quarter, but Gafford missed a layup at point blank range, and the mood kind of shifted from there. Regardless, trailing for the majority of the game isn’t usually a success for winning.
Not that it mattered. The Mavericks battled through some more deficits in the fourth quarter and finally took the lead for good with a Washington three at the 1:58 mark.
90%: Free throw percentage
At times, points were easy to come by. Especially in a game trailing for as long as the Mavericks did, they made it bearable by converting their freebies. They went 27-of-30, and needed a lot of those points to make this the game it turned out to be.
90% isn’t really a sustainable percentage to keep at the line. It was still encouraging to see everyone step up and get as many points from the stripe as they could when certain shots weren’t falling.
3: Steals by PJ and blocks by Lively
The Mavs as a whole played very good team defense, but some things just stood out. A lot of the runs they went on were because of defensive plays that ended with a block at the rim or a good read on a Portland pass. PJ Washington and Lively were the headstones of that defense, and stone-walled the Blazers for four straight minutes late in the fourth quarter on the way to a come-from-behind victory.
16-0: The run the Mavericks went on to seal the game
To go on a run like that, both the defense and the offense need to come together (obviously). Everyone hit shots down the stretch as the Mavs jumped from 99 to 115 points, and the Blazers just sat there looking pretty at 109. To rally back at the very end after being down as much as they had, for as long as they had, took nothing short of perfection. And the Mavs were able to do exactly that.