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.