The Dallas Mavericks hosted the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday night in a game that would have a nail biting finish. The Blazers are currently a game behind the eighth place Nuggets for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference while the Mavericks are trying to fight their way up from 11th place. With about 30 games remaining in the season, getting a win becomes more and more important.
The night would start out with Blazers point guard, Damian Lillard, scoring 22 of his 29 points all in the first half to put his team up by 11. The Blazers went up as much as 16 points in the game and looked to be on their way to an easy win. However, Lillard would go cold in the third quarter, scoring only three points and allowing the Mavericks to cut their lead to four going into the final period.
The Mavs would cut the lead further in the fourth and even take a one point lead in the first two minutes of the period. However, the Blazers responded with a 13-0 run to take a 101-89 lead with still over seven minutes left. With the game's momentum on their side, it seemed like the Blazers would be able to hold off the Mavs.
Then, Harrison Barnes scored seven points on a Dallas 13-0 to pull even at 101-101 with four minutes left. From there it would be a back and forth exchange of baskets with Dirk Nowitzki sinking a three-pointer of off a turnover by Lillard to put the Mavs up 108-107. Then, in a time in the game where according to Fox Sports, was usually when Damian Lillard scored at will, it would CJ McCollum who would step into role.
McCollum hit a jumper right after the Nowitzki three, then an and-one layup right after Dallas scored another bucket. With just 4 seconds left in the game, Nowitzki would hit another three-pointer that looked to complete the comeback victory for the Mavs. The Blazers took their final time-out and ran a play that would get the ball to McCollum who would split the defense and sink a floater with only 0.3 left on the clock. Devin Harris would heave the ball the full length of the court in a hail-mary attempt but miss badly. Complete game play-by-play and highlights on NBA.com
CJ McCollum would score the last seven points for the Blazers on his way to a 32 point output. The six foot four shooting guard averages 23.5 points per game in the season as per Basketball Reference and is one of the best players at his position. Damian Lillard finished with 29 points while Harrison Barnes and Dirk Nowitzki had 26 and 25 points respectively for the Mavericks.
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