Dallas rolled into Portland needing a win to pass the Blazers in the standings. This was the Maverick's first game since the news of Parson's injury broke Tuesday morning.
With just over a minute left Dallas trimmed the deficit from 15 points to 6. They forced a stop but threw it away on the outlet pass that would lead to a Crabbe 3. Dirk Nowitzki would answer with a 3 on the other end to bring the deficit back to 6. However a couple of clutch shots and made free throws from Damian Lillard would be enough to cap off a Blazers win.
OP Ed (Davis)
In the first half Ed Davis was a one man wrecking crew. He piled up 16 first half points on seven attempts from the field. Dallas couldn't contain him on the boards in that half, allowing Davis to grab four offensive boards before halftime. When Mejri wasn't on the floor the Mavs had a tough time boxing him out, leading to easy offense off of second chances at the rim. Davis would not score after halftime and his impact came almost exclusively in the first two quarters.
Salah is a Ballah
In his fourth start of the year Salah Mejri had a profound impact, notching a double-double three minutes into the second half. There were a few bad decisions when Salah got the ball down low that led to some frustrating turnovers. Defensively Mejri affected a great deal of Portland's shots in the paint defensively. There weren't many blocks on his stat sheet but the shots he changed don't show up in the box score. He would finish the night with 14 points and 12 rebounds, his third career NBA double-double.
W33333s
With Chandler Parsons done for the year, Wesley Matthews' offense needed to take a step up. Wes started the night off with two quick made threes and would finish the night with five made triples.
Damian Lillard is good at basketball
I mean that's just not fair.