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Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from nail biter win over Dallas

By Ryan Gaskin

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 27: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers handles the ball against the Dallas Mavericks on October 27, 2019 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 27: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers handles the ball against the Dallas Mavericks on October 27, 2019 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Portland Trail Blazers
(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Portland Trail Blazers surged back from a 19 point deficit to beat the Mavericks on Sunday night. Here’s what we learned from their inspired performance.

After starting extremely slow, the Portland Trail Blazers survived the tandem of Luka Doncic/Kristaps Porzingis and stormed back to defeat the Mavericks 121-119 in a last-second victory.

Dallas started hot, particularly from three-point land, and dropped 40 points on the Blazers after 12 minutes. Portland struggled with Porzingis — quick shout to Mark Cuban for getting that deal done, as the Latvian big clearly hasn’t skipped a beat in his recovery. He was tough inside and deadly from deep, and at times seemed simply unguardable.

But as they did most of last year, the Blazers found a way. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum led the team with 28 and 35 points respectively, with Dame hitting the dagger late in the fourth.

This felt like an important win for Portland. This new roster needed an ugly win like tonight, where they were down heavy, and defended poorly in streaks. Overcoming adversity will likely become a common theme for this Portland squad this season, as they make several adjustments with their revamped roster.

The Blazers will be able to take some momentum into their contest with San Antonio tomorrow night, but for now, let’s take a look at some key takeaways from tonight’s encounter.