Dirk Nowitzki continues to pile up the years and the points.
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Enes Kanter scored 16 points and Steven Adams had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 47-22.
Nowitzki took on a heavier burden in Sunday’s pivotal game due to the absence of Chandler Parsons, and he responded with his first 40-point game since 2014. “Our goal before the season was to make it into the playoffs”. “I think in the first half, we had trouble containing them and I think we fought more in the second half”. Salah really changed the game for us today. “This is a huge win for us against a team that’s right there with us battling”. They proved it again on Sunday by carrying the Portland Trail Blazers. Both teams are off until then. Williams made a tiebreaking 3-pointer before Nowitzki scored eight straight points. He was the first Maverick with 30 points and 15 assists in the same game since Jason Kidd had 33 and 16 (along with 12 rebounds) in 1996. He joined Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone as the only players in league history to score at least 40 at age 37 or older. He had played just 198 minutes in 23 games before Sunday. He’s been doing this on a somewhat consistent basis all year, coming up with a monster game. “We went out there, we got stops when we needed it, scored points when we needed it”. We’ve all got to enjoy whatever time we have left to watch him, whatever number of years it is because it’ll go by quickly.
Nothing ever seems to come easy when you’re struggling to win games, especially on the road.
Only Damian Lillard’s last-second three clanged off the rim at the end of regulation, Nowitzki and Williams continued their brilliance in overtime and Portland lost in 132-120 at American Airlines Center.
For Dallas, Wesley Matthews scored 15 points, all on 3-pointers, and Raymond Felton had 11. Miles Plumlee had 14 points and 19 rebounds.
Many in the National Basketball Association believe that the former Duke Blue Devils star can put up way more impressive numbers if he could earn more playing time from Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stott.
Damian Lillard’s layup had tied it at 113 for Portland with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
“The good news is we get the same team in a couple days”, Mason Plumlee said.
The Mavericks needed to withstand Portland’s long-range barrage to open the fourth quarter.
Portland would knock down 18 from beyond the arc for the game. Crabbe was able to spread the floor against the Dallas Mavericks because he hit six shots from beyond the three point line. McCollum had three from downtown.
Williams’ previous season-high was 30 points on December 1 at Portland. I’m gonna really be sick.’ After I had that thought I decided that we wasn’t going to lose this game.
Dallas’ home skid was the longest since 1999-2000, the same season Mark Cuban bought the franchise. The Mavs outshot the Blazers at 55.1 percent on 49-of-89 shooting compared to 40.4 percent on 42-of-104 for Portland. They exited halftime with Mejri replacing veteran Zaza Pachulia in the starting lineup.
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Added Carlisle: “Never underestimate greatness at any age”. Portland hasn’t won a season series against Dallas since 2009-10….
