Portland Trail Blazers (16-12, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (14-14, ninth in the Western Conference)
Dallas; Friday, 8:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks face the Portland Trail Blazers. Doncic is first in the league scoring 33.0 points per game.
The Mavericks are 9-5 in conference games. Dallas is 4-3 in games decided by 10 points or more.
The Trail Blazers have gone 12-7 against Western Conference opponents. Portland is third in the league in 3-point percentage, shooting 39.0% as a team from downtown this season. Drew Eubanks leads them shooting 50.0% from 3-point range.
The two teams square off for the second time this season. The Mavericks defeated the Trail Blazers 117-112 in their last matchup on Nov. 13. Doncic led the Mavericks with 42 points, and Jerami Grant led the Trail Blazers with 37 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Doncic is averaging 33 points, 8.4 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.7 steals for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie is averaging 16.3 points over the last 10 games for Dallas.
Anfernee Simons is scoring 23.7 points per game with 3.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Trail Blazers. Grant is averaging 22.9 points over the past 10 games for Portland.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mavericks: 5-5, averaging 115.4 points, 39.0 rebounds, 23.2 assists, 6.4 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 116.3 points per game.
Trail Blazers: 6-4, averaging 118.7 points, 44.8 rebounds, 25.5 assists, 5.6 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 49.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 116.0 points.
INJURIES:
Trail Blazers: Nassir Little: out (hip), Gary Payton II: out (core).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
