Lillard drops 27 as Blazers send Mavs to 8th loss in 10 games

The Dallas Mavericks' tailspin continues. Despite 21 points from Dirk Nowitzki and the most efficient offensive game from Wesley Matthews in almost a month, the Mavs fell for the eighth time in 10 games Wednesday, 109-103.

Dallas had beaten Portland on Sunday on the front end of the home-and-home set. With Wednesday's loss, the Mavericks drop to under .500 and into a tie with the Utah Jazz for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Damian Lillard scored a game-high 27 points for the Blazers, who have sputtered of late as well. The win was just Portland's fourth in 11 contests.

This tremendously difficult step-back trey gave the Blazers a 16-point fourth-quarter lead:

Lillard was 4-for-9 from deep. Matthews scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting for Dallas, including 6-for-10 from downtown. It was his first 20-point outing since March 1.