The Portland Trail Blazers overcame a 19-point deficit on Sunday to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 121-119. This was the most efficient all-around game the Trail Blazers have had offensively in this young season, and this win pushed them to 2-0 on their current four-game road trip.
Portland Trail Blazers Defeat the Dallas Mavericks
C.J. McCollum and Rodney Hood Have Their Best Games
Rodney Hood has been efficient so far this season. However, he had his best game Sunday, going for 20 points on 8/12 shooting and 3/3 from behind the three-point line.
Portland did fall behind 40-25 at the end of the first quarter. However, Hood put up 14 points in the quarter. This allowed Portland to keep the game at a reasonable distance going into halftime. Ultimately Portland outscored Dallas 34-31 in the second quarter, so they were only down 12 points at the half.
The ability to be a dangerous third-scoring option is why Portland made it a priority to re-sign Hood this offseason.
Along with Hood, CJ McCollum had his best game of the season, and it wasn’t close. Going into the game, McCollum was shooting 13/36 (36.1 percent). On Sunday, he got things going like fans are used to seeing.
On the night McCollum was 13/26 and he led the team in scoring with 35 points. Along with that, McCollum impacted the game by grabbing six rebounds, dishing out four assists and grabbing two steals.
The game by McCollum allowed the team to overcome the 19-point deficit, and to overcome subpar nights from Damian Lillard and Hassan Whiteside.
Lillard scored 8 points and he was 10/20 shooting, but he was 1/7 from distance. Whiteside was able to grab 14 rebounds, but he was in foul trouble and only scored six points while attempting four shots. Overall those two made an impact, but they weren’t quite as good as they were the first two games.
Second Half Defense
The defense on the side of the Trail Blazers was bad in the first half. Dallas had 71 points at the half on 51 percent shooting. However, in the second half, Portland held Dallas to 48 points on 26.7 percent shooting.
To go with that, Dallas shot 4/25 from behind the three-point line. Those are impressive team defensive numbers when dealing with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
Portland still has some issues defensively. They haven’t been good defensively this season, and the first half of this game was the worst defensive half they’ve had yet. However, Portland deserves credit for buckling down on defense in the second half and finding a way to win.
This could potentially be a turning point for the team on the defensive end of the floor. This team can score, so if they can play somewhere near top-12 defense in the league, they will win a lot of games.
Zach Collins Leaves the Game
Zach Collins is averaging nine points and four rebounds through three games. This is his first season as a full-time starter, but now there is concern around him being injured.
The third-year Portland Trail Blazers forward left the game against the Dallas Mavericks in the third quarter with a dislocated shoulder. Collins is going to have an MRI on his shoulder Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is reporting.
Portland F Zach Collins will get an MRI on his dislocated left shoulder Monday, league source tells ESPN. He was hurt in victory over Dallas tonight.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 28, 2019
This injury has the potential to be big. Collins was playing like the fifth starter, but overall he was playing better than he did in his first two seasons.
Now, it’s likely that he will miss some time. This means that it’s likely Anthony Tolliver or Skal Labissiere will be asked to step into the starting lineup.
Terry Stotts could also put Kent Bazemore or Mario Hezonja in the starting lineup and go smaller, but the most likely option is Tolliver. This is concerning because Tolliver has yet to do anything this season. However, being inserted into the starting lineup could give him a spark.
Portland Trail Blazers Beat Dallas Mavericks: Up Next
Portland will continue this four-game road trip with a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday Night on a back-to-back.
The Spurs are off to a 2-0 start with wins over the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards.
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