Damian Lillard (5) and Luka Doncic (4) have combined for nine of the NBA’s 70 40-point games this season.
Mavericks (21-18) at Trail Blazers (24-16)
• Portland won the first meeting of the season with Dallas, 121-118 on Feb. 14, behind 34 points from Damian Lillard, who hit a clutch step-back three with 32 seconds left to put the Blazers up for good. Lillard leads all players in clutch points (124) and is shooting 60.3% from the field, 53.3% from 3-point range and 100% from the free throw line with the game on the line.
• Luka Doncic scored a game-high 44 points in the first meeting with Portland. He has four 40-point games in 2020-21, tied with Nikola Jokic for the second-most 40-point games of the season. However, Lillard is tied with Bradley Beal and Joel Embiid with a league-high five 40-point games this season. The Mavs are 3-1 when Doncic scores 40 or more (the only loss came to Portland); the Blazers are 5-0 when Lillard scores 40 or more.
• The Blazers and Mavericks both rank in the bottom four in the league in passes made per game (Portland 239.5, 30th; Dallas 268.1, 27th) and assists (Portland 20.1, 30th; Dallas 22.6, t-27th). Both teams rely heavily on isolation play as this matchup features three of the top 15 isolation scorers in the league: Damian Lillard (5.4 ppg, 2nd), Luka Doncic (4.7 ppg, 6th) and CJ McCollum (3.7 ppg, 13th).
• The Blazers are 4-4 on second night of back-to-back this season, averaging 117.1 ppg in those eight games, which is 2.3 ppg higher than their season average (114.8, 9th in NBA). On no days rest, Damian Lillard is averaging 31.3 ppg, 8.9 apg and 4.5 rpg, while Carmelo Anthony is adding 18 ppg.
• Luka Doncic leads the NBA in usage rate at 34.9%, nearly three percentage points ahead of fifth-ranked Damian Lillard (32.0%). While Luka is on the court, he accounts for 33.3% of Dallas’ points and 54.0% of Dallas’ assists. The only other player in the league to account for at least 30% of his team’s points and 50% of his team’s assists while on the court is Atlanta’s Trae Young. Since 1996-97, the only players to do that over the course of a season are Doncic, Young and LeBron James in 2019-20; James Harden in 2017-18; Russell Westbrook and Harden in 2016-17; and Westbrook in 2014-15.
