Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks Preview

The Portland Trail Blazers will shoot for back-to-back wins after nipping the Utah Jazz 122-120 on Thursday. Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe led all scorers with 27 each, but Scoot Henderson got the glory by hitting the go-ahead shot with .1 seconds left. The game wasn’t a work of art, and it wasn’t against a good team, but Moda Center was rocking as the Blazers gave acting Coach Bjorkgren a win.

All of the news in Dallas is about the Luka Donic injury that will keep him out for at least a month. It’s a devastating blow, but quite possibly not a fatal one. This is still a good team, as evidenced by their 98-89 win over the Suns in Phoenix on Friday night. The Mavs kept the Suns at arms length nearly the entire game, holding them to under 90 points for just the second time this year. Portland will have an extra day’s rest and won’t have to travel, but Dallas is a much better team, seemingly with something to prove.

Portland Trail Blazers (10-20) at Dallas Mavericks (20-11) – Sat. Dec. 28 – 7:00pm Pacific

How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network

How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else

Trail Blazers injuries: Matisse Thybulle (out); Dalano Banton, Robert Williams III (questionable)

Mavericks injuries: Dante Exum, Luka Doncic (out), Dereck Lively II (questionable)

SB Nation Affiliate: Mavs Moneyball

Blazer’s Edge Reader Questions

Blazerspenwheel:

Wondering why they took Sharpe out at the end of the game vs the Jazz.

Sharpe was in until there were :29 left in the game, at which point he subbed off for Camara to take advantage of his Toumani’s defensive prowess. The clock didn’t stop until after Scoot’s go ahead bucket so there was no opportunity to sub him back in.

Tickets cost too much:

If I ask nicely can I see more of that same closing lineup?

Quite possibly. Deni and Scoot had excellent nights, and as Coach Bjorkgren said in his postgame press conference he rode them the last part of the game because they were playing so well. One might be tempted to attribute this lineup to the coach, but it probably had more to do with circumstances that we just hadn’t seen before. Deni was on fire. Scoot also had a little something that we haven’t seen too often this season. Anfernee Simons struggled most of the night, although he did hit a few big shots in the fourth quarter, while Grant had reasonable stats without putting a big imprint on the game. We haven’t seen that combination of Scoot and Deni thriving while Simons and Grant largely looked on. Maybe Deni and Scoot earned some more crunch-time minutes.

Nurk Dowitzki:

If given the same kind of freedom as Luka, how good could Deni become? On a scale from where he is now to Luka.

At the risk of taking the question too seriously we’ve now had a pretty good look at what the Blazers envisioned when they traded for him. Peak Deni is affordable, energetic and fun. Imagine a few years in future where he has the same role that he had last night but on a good team. Coming off the bench, immediately injecting energy and scoring buckets in bunches. On some nights when he has it cooking, he’s in the the lineup that finishes the game. Other nights, he does his damage solely against the other team’s bench. That’s an incredibly valuable role. Unless he really makes a leap I’m not sure he’s a starter on a contending team though. Let’s hope we get to find out sooner rather than later. In any event it will be fun to see how Bjorkgren utilizes him on Saturday against Dallas.

What to Watch For

Luka won’t be playing, but Dallas is still really good. We’ve seen some teams lose their biggest star to a long injury and collapse, but don’t expect that with Dallas. This team still has Kyrie and a rejuvenated Klay, and it seems like chip on their shoulders to boot. The supporting cast isn’t half bad either. I’m certainly not ready to count the Mavericks out

What Others Are Saying

Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News writes about Klay Thompson passing Reggie Miller on the NBA’s all-time three-point shooting list.

Miller reached 2,560 career 3-pointers in 1,388 games, but Thompson accomplished the feat in just 819 games. Miller played his entire 18-year career with the Indiana Pacers and he’s known for his precise 3-point shooting. He built a reputation of making clutch shots, which Thompson admired.

Are the Mavericks going to roll over after losing Luka Doncic for an extended period? Tyleredsel of Mavs Moneyball doesn’t think so.

Facing this stretch of basketball without Luka Doncic might turn into something that defines the 2024-25 Dallas Mavericks, for better or worse. it’s going to be hard, and it’ll be made even harder by not having their all-world star player available for a long stretch. But what makes special teams special is their ability to get into wounded animal mode and come out on the other side better for it. The Mavericks are there now, and I get the feeling that this team is up for that fight. Now it’s just time to see it.

Zach Kram of The Ringer on the implications of Luka Doncic’s injury.

That’s an obvious blow to last year’s Western Conference champs, who currently sit in fourth place in the West, with a 19-11 record and healthy point differential that indicates a strong chance at another Finals berth. It’s also a blow to Luka’s budding résumé, given that he will now certainly play fewer than 65 games this season and thus not qualify for postseason awards. Combining both team and individual implications, here are the four most important ripple effects from Doncic’s extended absence.