The Dallas Mavericks were all but out of this game against the Portland Trail Blazers until Luka Doncic decided to take over.
The Trail Blazers took a 26-25 lead to start the second quarter and were in control for almost the rest of the game.
Leading by 12 going into the fourth quarter, they were 12 minutes away from a strong road win. They extended that lead to 15 after newly acquired Rodney Hood buried a fadeaway jumper with just under 11 minutes left in the game but then the Mavericks run began.
They rattled off a 14-0 run on eight points and an assist from Doncic, bringing them within one point with four and a half minutes to go.
They tied the game at 97 then came up with a stop, giving themselves a chance to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter intermission.
Doncic took Damian Lillard off the dribble with a smooth behind-the-back and finished strong at the rim to go up 99-97.
Luka goes behind the back! pic.twitter.com/X3fBoAZxSY
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 10, 2019
Lillard responded with a pair of free throws and the Mavericks went right back to their rookie phenom. This time, Doncic drew contact and finished an insane layup for an and-1 to give his squad a 102-99 lead with just 1:28 left in the game.
AND-1! @luka7doncic pic.twitter.com/zP90uThY0k
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 10, 2019
The teams traded stops before C.J. McCollum buried a pull-up jumper to make it a one-point game with 34 seconds remaining. This was the Blazers' first made field goal in 10 minutes and 10 seconds!
Doncic missed what would have been a game-sealing 3-pointer, giving Lillard a chance to win it for Portland. Mavericks' centre Maxi Kleber played fantastic help defence forcing a Lillard miss to complete the comeback win.
Doncic finished with 28 points, with 13 of those coming in the fourth quarter, along with nine rebounds and six assists. He received plenty of offensive help from his new teammate Tim Hardaway Jr., who had 24 points in the game.
Lillard finished with a game-high 30 points but was held to just two points in the fourth quarter.
As a team the Blazers were held to just nine points in the final frame going 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) from the field with seven turnovers.
Portland remains in fourth place in the West at 33-22 while the Mavericks advance to 26-29, 4.0 games out from the final playoff spot in West.
