The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 117-112 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, to end their two-game losing streak.

Luka Doncic scored his second 40+points triple-double as he dropped 42 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the Mavericks. He wasn't shooting very well at the 3-point line (1-for-5), but tapped his aggressiveness to the full by going 7-for-8 under the rim and 15-for-18 at the free throw line.

In fact, Doncic had 34 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the first three quarters, but the Mavericks trailed 88-85 during the same period. Despite Doncic's incredible individual performance, he didn't receive enough help from his teammates, only one of which scored in double digits before the fourth quarter. While Doncic was doing everything he could on the offensive end, the rest of the Mavericks mostly just caught the ball outside and then missed triples. They earned only three free throws, as opposed to 16 for Doncic.

By contrast, Damian Lillard didn't generate  Doncic's explosive numbers, despite being totally capable of doing so. He had teammates to count on for carrying the Trail Blazers' offense. Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons scored 33 and 18 points respectively in the first three quarters. The team also outperformed the Mavericks in offensive rebounds (12-7) and second-chance points (20-9).

Though Lillard shot no better than Doncic from downtown (1-for-5) in the first three quarters, he took six fewer field goals (FGs) and, thus, had more strength to put "Dame Time" on Saturday night. He almost did it by draining his second 3-pointer from 30 feet at 2:50 in the final quarter to help the Trail Blazers lead 106-103.

You have to give Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd credit for keeping a mini squad of Doncic, Dorian Fenney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr., Reggie Bullock and Spencer Dinwiddie on the court during the clutch time. They were at a serious disadvantage in size, power and athleticism, but could produce the best spacing in theory.

After Lillard made that 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks responded with four triples, three straight ones by Dinwiddie and one by Fenney-Smith. With a 12-3 run in less than two minutes, the team reversed the situation and took solid control of the game before claiming their seventh win of the season.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

Brooklyn Nets 110-95 Los Angeles Clippers

When Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined hands in the Brooklyn Nets in the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019, the team was expected by many to outscore every opponent they play against. That was not what happened in most cases since then, including Saturday's game at Crypto.com Arena. However, the Nets beat the Clippers on the road in the fifth consecutive game in which they kept the opponent from reaching 100 points.

The Nets don't have the best defensive resources in the league, but they still managed to limit the Clippers to shoot at 40 percent of FG rate. The home team's ace Paul George missed 16 of his 21 attempts to get only 17 points. The Nets kept the game close with resilient defense until the fourth quarter. Then Seth Curry went 4-for-4 from deep to get 14 points and two assists, closing the competition for the Nets.

Toronto Raptors 104-118 Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton really gave home fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse mixed feelings on Saturday night. On one hand, he had the Pacers' worst shooting performance of going 3-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-9 from downtown. However, Haliburton did a remarkable job of running the team's offense with 15 assists, more than the whole team of the opponents. That explained why he had team-high plus/minus of +26.

The Raptors had Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet sit this game out, so their second-year forward Scottie Barnes had to shoulder more orchestrating duties. He apparently was not ready for it, delivering only five assists with two turnovers in over 39 minutes while underperforming in individual attack to get only eight points after going 4-for-16 in FGs.

Charlotte Hornets 115-132 Miami Heat

The last time the two teams met, Jimmy Butler did everything he could on both ends of the game to help the Heat in overtime. He didn't have to on Saturday night because Max Strus and Gabe Vincent combined to score 51 points to share Butler's offensive burden. Having shot only eight FGs, only the fifth-most of the team, Butler got 20 points, seven rebounds and eight assists with ease. Playing 31 minutes and 18 seconds on the court was his second-fewest time so far this season.

LaMelo Ball returned from a sprained left ankle to make his season debut for the Hornets in Saturday's game. He was still rusty in 3-point shooting, in which he went 1-for-9, but he did much better in finishing in the paint and driving fast break. The Hornets need Ball to find his best form back as soon as possible after a poor 3-11 start of the regular season.

Utah Jazz 112-121 Washington Wizards

Boston Celtics 117-108 Detroit Pistons

Atlanta Hawks 109-121 Philadelphia 76ers

Houston Rockets 106-119 New Orleans Pelicans