Damian Lillard is playing out of his mind down in Orlando. Do you know another guy in the bubble who’s churning out insane numbers?
Luka Doncic. A duel between those two stat monsters is about to happen this week, as the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday at 6:30 AM (Manila time).
HOME TEAM: Dallas Mavericks (43-30, 20-17 at home)
Dallas is suddenly on a roll. After a shaky start to their campaign in the Orlando Bubble (1-3 in first four games of the month), the Mavericks have now put together consecutive wins. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks last Sunday (153-149 OT) and took down the Utah Jazz on Tuesday (122-114), despite not having the services of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
Doncic, Porzingis, and Dorian Finney-Smith all sat out the game with injuries, but that’s just on paper. The Mavericks are clearly giving their key players time to gas up for the playoffs. That’s something the Blazers can’t afford at this point. However, the win over the Jazz showed that Dallas, which won against the spread in seven of the last 10 times it faced Portland, can still have success while experimenting with their lineup configurations.
Seth Curry and Tim Hardaway Jr. started for the Mavs and had 49 points and 7 3-pointers together. Boban Marjanovic also was inserted into the starting lineup and finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Marjanovic can see the same playing time again this Wednesday to help combat the Blazers’ frontcourt.
ROAD TEAM: Portland Trail Blazers (33-39, 12-24 on the road)
Damian Lillard showed proof that he’s human when he missed two crucial free throws in the loss to the LA Clippers last Sunday. Then he came back and played like an android on Monday, detonating a 51 point bomb on 16-of-28 shooting with four triples in 40 minutes to lead the Blazers to a 124-121 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. What’s there left to say about Dame, whose scoring barrage may very well continue this Wednesday against Dallas?
Lillard appears to love playing against Dallas, which he’s torched for an average of 36.3 points over the last three times he met Luka Doncic and crew. Lillard went off for 47 points with 8 3-pointers in a January 133-125 home loss to the Mavs, though, Portland didn’t have CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, and Zach Collins in that game due to injuries. Well, all three are now healthy and the Blazers need every bit of them down the stretch. Expect the duo of Lillard and McCollum and the Blazers’ healthy frontcourt to have a playoff mindset on Wednesday, which is something you can’t entirely say about the Mavericks, who have a sure seat in the playoffs whatever happens at Disney Land.
PREDICTIONS:
A win in this game is more important to the Blazers than the Mavericks, who can afford to experiment and limit the minutes of their stars. With the ideal starting unit they never had in the past three meetings with Dallas, the Blazers should win this game, 124-119.
