Lillard shoots the lights out, Trail Blazers beat Mavericks 117-108

Damian Lillard scores 31 and CJ McCollum adds 26 as the Trail Blazers hold off the pesky Dallas Mavericks to win their sixth straight at home.

The Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-108 Saturday at the Moda Center. The win was Portland’s third straight overall and their sixth straight victory at home.

Portland improves to 25-21 on the season. Dallas falls to 15-31.

The Mavs have lost three in a row. And they have a host of injured players. Seth Curry, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nerlens Noel have all missed time. And none of them played against the Trail Blazers.

Let’s recap, shall we?

FIRST QUARTER

The Trail Blazers dominated the Mavs in the first quarter. Portland hit four of their first five shots, including two three pointers.

And then they got better. With 3:12 left in the quarter, Portland had nailed nine of its first 14 shots (64.3 percent). They’d also hit 5-of-7 three pointers. Damian Lillard was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Shabazz Napier hit a three. Lillard hit a high-arcing 20-footer. And then Napier stole the ball from J.J. Barea at midcourt and finished the play with a dunk, apparently the first of his career.

The only thing bigger than the Trail Blazers’ lead at that point was Napier’s smile.

CJ McCollum got in on the act, making a driving layup and leaving his defender, Yogi Ferrell, splayed out on the hardwood.

End of one: Trail Blazers 33, Dallas 20.

The Trail Blazers shot 62 percent from the field in the quarter. They were 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) from three.

SECOND QUARTER

McCollum picked up where he left off. He hit a variety of shots, including a 13-foot pull-up, a driving floater at the rim and then a 14-footer. McCollum also assisted on an Ed Davis layup.

With 7:31 left in the half, the Trail Blazers were up 45-31.

But the Mavericks also picked up the pace, with shots by Dirk Nowitzki, Barea, Salah Mejri, and former Trail Blazer Wesley Matthews. This forced Portland head coach Terry Stotts to call a timeout with 6:52 left. At that point, the Trail Blazers were still up by 10 points, 45-35.

And immediately after that timeout, Lillard hit his fourth three-pointer of the half.

Still, the law of averages began to catch up with the Trail Blazers, and they started to miss some shots. But they were still shooting a robust 57.1 percent at the half.

Even better, the Trail Blazers increased their lead to 17. And they held Dallas to 35.7 percent shooting.

At the half: Trail Blazers 62, Mavericks 45. Lillard had 18, McCollum 13 and Evan Turner 12. Nowitzki lead the Mavericks with 11.

THIRD QUARTER

Good news: The Trail Blazers were undefeated (6-0) when leading by 10 or more at the half.

Better news: This game would be no different.

Bad news: Portland came out flat to start the third quarter. The Mavs went on an 11-2 run to pull within eight points (64-56). This caused a clearly peeved Stotts to call a timeout.

It got a little better after that, though.

A couple of McCollum field goals (including a three), Lillard’s fifth (of five) and a Nurkic layup kept Dallas at bay. But the Mavs would not go away. (Hey, that rhymed! I’m a poet but didn’t know it.)

Lillard was straight-up unconscious. With 3:14 left in the quarter, he had yet to miss a single shot. He had 27 points on 9-of-9 shooting (including 7-for-7 from three). He also made both his free throws.

Yeah, he’s an all-star. I mean, duh.

After three: Trail Blazers 91, Mavericks 79.

FOURTH QUARTER

The Trail Blazers open up a 14-point lead early in the quarter. But future Hall-of-Famer Nowitzki kept the Mavs in it for the next several minutes. With a little more than six minutes left in the game, Nowitznki had 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

But after a Napier three, the score was 103-93 Trail Blazers.

Still, the Mavericks simply would not go away. A Barea-to-Mejri alley oop brought the Mavs to within eight, 103-95.

There was a short scuffle between Mejri and Nurkic, with the Trail Blazers big man getting called for a technical foul. (Harrison Barnes missed the technical free throw.)

Portland’s shooting percentage was down to 52.5 percent.

It was a ragged second half for the Trail Blazers, but they finally put the Mavericks away.

Lillard finished with 31 points (10-of-15 from the floor, including 7-of-9 from three), nine assists and five rebounds.

Final score: Trail Blazers 117, Mavericks 108.

Next: Smith says Lillard needs to request a trade from the Blazers

THREE TAKEAWAYS

Trail Blazers-Mavericks.

This was the Trail Blazers’ first game against the Dallas Mavericks this season. The two teams will meet again next Friday in Dallas.

Fourth time’s a charm?

Portland has yet to win four games in a row this season. They’ll have another opportunity (their fourth) when they take on the Nuggets Monday in Denver.

Welcome back, Wes.

Former Trail Blazer Wesley Matthews had a solid game back at his old haunt, scoring 23 points.